BENGALURU: It has been 12 days since a 24-year-old woman became a victim of an acid attack in Bengaluru, but there have been no clues on the whereabouts of the accused, Nagesh (27). A police officer investigating the case said the compulsory mask rule, implemented in the state since COVID cases are increasing, is hampering the investigation as the accused could be taking advantage of it.
"Except for his pictures, none of the police officers have seen him in real life, which has made it difficult to identify him with a mask. Most accused wear caps to hide their identities, and if Nagesh is moving around wearing both a cap and mask, it will be difficult to pick him in a crowd," he added.
All this while, the acid attack victim has been told that Nagesh, who was pestering her to marry him, has been caught. "We don't want her to get depressed further with the information that the police are yet to catch him. We are trying to make her not to think about the horrific incident. Her face has not been scarred, and on Monday, she underwent a fourth surgery," one of the family members told The New Indian Express.
Sundaresh, the victim's uncle, said, "I visited the police station on Monday to get an update on the case. They told me that they were trying all possible ways to catch him."
Seven police teams to trace acid attacker
An officer said, "The first rule for the accused is to cover their face. We are facing the same issue in this case too, making the task of identifying the accused difficult. The government is applying pressure on us to catch him. We are banking on the lookout notice, where we have put out several pictures of him, showing how he would probably look with changed appearances.Citizens too can share any detail anytime."
The seven police teams formed to trace him have fanned out and are trying different methods to catch him. The accused, who was a resident of Sanjeevini Nagar in Hegganahalli, escaped after throwing acid on the victim near her workplace in Sunkadakatte.
(If the public has any information on the accused, they can call 9480801728, 9448904822, 080-22942517 and 080-22943232)