Bopdev Ghat gang-rape case: 7-day police custody for second accused

Pune: The Pune police crime branch on Wednesday produced the second accused in the Bopdev Ghat gang-rape case in the court. He was granted police custody till October 22.

The accused, identified as Shoaib alias Akhtar Babu Sheikh, 27, resided at Hadapsar area. He was arrested from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

According to the police, Sheikh, the prime accused, along with two accomplices, gang-raped the girl at Bopdev Ghat area on October 4. The accused also threatened and robbed gold chain and gold ring of the survivor.

The three accused gang-raped the 21-year-old event management student from Gujarat, who along with her friend, 22, a CA student from north Maharashtra, had visited the popular green belt.

On Wednesday, in their submission to the court, the police sought seven-day police custody to take samples of the accused’s blood, nails, hair for DNA and related tests. They also wanted to investigate how he had executed the crime, who else was involved in the case and where he had stayed during his visit to Uttar Pradesh.

Police have to recover the jewellery stolen by the accused and the motorcycle used in the crime. The third associate Somnath Yadav is on the run.

Meanwhile, Chandrakumar Raviprasad Kanojia, 20, from Dindori in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested by the police from Pune last Friday morning. He was involved in molestation, robbery and theft cases reported in the rural parts of the district.

Kanojia confessed to the police that they were involved in the gang-rape case.