MP Shocker! Rape & Blackmailing Racket Unearthed; Key Accused Among Two Held
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): In a case akin to Ajmer rape and blackmailing case of 1990s, a group of minor girls at a private college were allegedly trapped, raped and blackmailed by a group of youths of a different community continuously for many years in Bhopal.
The racket surfaced after one of the girls who was being blackmailed approached Bagsewania police and lodged an FIR around a week ago.
Subsequent investigations indicated towards involvement of an organised racket. Till now four victims of the racket have come forward with their complaints. Three of them have registered FIRs while the fourth is being counselled by officials as she is reluctant to give her statement out of fear and being shamed.
Commissioner of Police Bhopal Harinarayanchari Mishra said a sensitive case has come to light in Bagsewania, where three victims have lodged separate complaints of rape.
As the victims were minor at the time of the incident, sections of rape, POCSO and Freedom of Religion Act 2020 have been invoked in the FIRs.
Two including the prime accused have been arrested and an SIT has been constituted for better investigation of every aspect of each case, he added.
Police officials said that names of four accused have come to light till now among whom two have been arrested by Jehangirabad and Ashoka Garden police.
The prime accused in the case, Faraz, was a student of the same college. He has been arrested by Jahangirabad police while his aide Saad was nabbed by Ashoka Garden police around four days back.
Investigations indicate that some accused were outsiders and location of two of them has been traced to West Bengal. A team has been sent there to trace and arrest them, officials further said.
How the racket came to light
The first case came to light after a girl approached Bagsewania police and complained that her co-student Faraz befriended her while she was a student at private college in 2017.
Faraz took her to a room in Jehangirabad and raped her. He made obscene videos of her and was now blackmailing her. Police arrested Faraz and was shocked when obscene videos of many girls, all students of the same college, were found with different youths in his mobile.
Names of three more accused surfaced who have raped and blackmailed other girls of the college. Police approached the victims and on their complaint registered separate FIRs at Jehangirabad, Aishbag and Ashoka Garden police stations as they were raped at these three locations.
Modus Operandi :Minor girls trapped
Investigations by the SIT headed by DCP (crime) Akhil Patel revealed that the girls who were minors at that time were trapped in an organised manner.
The first victim was raped and was blackmailed through her obscene videos to introduce another girl to the friend of the accused. In a sequence four girls were raped and were forced to introduce other girls to the gang.
The victim who first approached cops informed that the accused was forcing her to introduce other girls to his friends. Police suspects that the racket targeted many more girls who were yet to come forward with their complaint.
Victims live on rent at Bagsewania
Police officials said that the victims belong to different districts and live on rent at Bagsewania. Their kin are also in a state of shock since the cases surfaced. They are demanding strictest action against those involved.
news