VIJAYAWADA: A pack of biryani and a couple of water bottles helped the Nuzvid town police crack the rape case of a minor, arrest the accused within 36 hours, and win the Award for Best Crime Detection (ABCD) for the first quarter of 2020.
The crime was committed on February 28, when the 10-year-old victim was waiting for her father to pick her up from a bus stop at night. As the father got delayed, the accused, A Venkateswara Rao, 35, won the girl’s trust and offered to help her find her father. But he took her to an isolated place, sexually assaulted her, and dumped her in a critical condition, near the IIIT campus.
The police had no clues, except that the accused seemed to be in his 30s, and was riding a cycle, DSP B Srinivasulu said. A day later, the victim told the police that the accused had a pack of biryani hanging from his cycle, and left two bottles of water opposite the place he picked her up from. “Nine teams were formed to get information on people in their 30s who use cycles. Later, we focused on hotels serving biryani and 16 owners appeared. One of them said a waiter uses a cycle and took water bottles for his friend,” he said.