Police have detained five people in connection with the alleged gang-rape of a law school student in the Bangalore University campus last Saturday.
According to highly placed sources, Jnana Bharathi police detained them on Wednesday evening and are expected to detain three more shortly. Police are likely to make an official announcement of arrests in a day or two.
“The accused were caught by South Division police in connection with sandalwood smuggling near Ramanagaram in the wee hours of Thursday. During investigations, the five confessed to the rape. They are all habitual offenders and are involved in sandalwood smuggling. All accused are aged between 20 and 25 years,” official sources said.
The gang is said to be active in and around the campus. The New Indian Express on Thursday had reported the possible involvement of such gangs in the case.
The victim, Masha (name changed), according to sources, had identified the accused from photographs of the criminals from police records and also with the help of sketches of the suspects based on information provided by the victim and her friend. Police spent nearly six hours a day with the victim showing her photographs. “Nearly six hundred photographs were shown to the victim,” a source said.
Meanwhile, police are awaiting forensic reports for further investigations.
Shocked by the incident, parents of the victim’s friend Nikhil are planning to take their son back to Kerala. They arrived in the city on Wednesday night and approached the police seeking their permission to take him back.
The police, however, told them that Nikhil’s presence was required for investigations in the case.