Bhopal/Sidhi (Madhya Pradesh): Taking cognisance of the incident in which the accused allegedly raped seven college students, including four minor girls and three women, in Sidhi after using a voice modulation app to pose as female college employee and called them to discuss scholarships, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has ordered a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT). Rewa range IG Mahendra Sikarwar on Saturday announced the arrests of all the three accused and added that a nine-member SIT has been constituted. Sub divisional officer of police (SDOP) of Sidhi, Roshni Singh Thakur, will head the SIT.
In a press conference, IG Sikarwar said that the key accused had concocted the plan to outrage the modesty of the target students and used to commit the crime on pretext of offering scholarships to them. The key accused has been identified as Brijesh Prajapati, 30, who was assisted by his two accomplices—Rahul Prajapati and Sandeep Prajapati, all residents of Sidhi. All survivors belong to marginalised community, the Sidhi police said.
Key accused burnt hands in mishap in Jabalpur
Shedding light on the details of the incident, the IG said when Brijesh Prajapati was interrogated, he said he used to work at a steel factory in Jabalpur three years ago. He added that Prajapati claimed he burnt his hands and legs grievously in an explosion, which ensued in the factory. Sometime later, he went to Gujarat and upon return, he conceived the idea to commit the crime, Sikarwar added. Furthermore, Prajapati used a voice modulation app to imitate the voice of a female college employee and call the target woman to a deserted area to commit the despicable act.
Accused used to snatch survivors’ mobile phones to evade police action SIT team members probing the incident said Prajapati used to commit the crime during the dark hours to avoid getting caught by the police. They added that he used to pick up the target woman on the bike and used to wear a helmet and gloves to conceal his identity. He also used to snatch away the mobile phones of the women after raping them to evade police action, the police said. Later, he used to sell the mobile phones with the help of both of his accomplices Rahul and Sandeep. The police said that a total of 16 mobile phones have been seized from the possession of the arrested accused.
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