Sexual assault video: Bengaluru police open fire on two gangrape accused

A day after the culprits involved in the viral video of a young girl being sexually assaulted, gangraped and tortured by four men and a woman were arrested, the Bengaluru police on Friday said they had to resort to opening fire after two of the accused tried to flee from police custody.

Banaswadi Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) N. S. Sakri and his team took the accused to K. Channasandra where the rape was allegedly committed and filmed. 

RELATED | Sexual assault video: Victim not from Nagaland; Assam police to reward info

Accused Hriday Babu and Rakibul Islam Sagar allegedly attacked the police at the crime scene, after which the police team led by Ramamurhty Nagar police inspector Melvin Francis had to open fire to bring them down. Banaswadi Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) N. S. Sakri and other police personnel were also attacked, the police said. 

“Both were shot at their knees before they were nabbed and are now being treated at a government hospital,” the police said.

Bangalore police on Thursday said a case of rape and assault has been registered against six persons, including two women, at the Ramamurthy Nagar Police.

Earlier on Thursday, the Assam Police had promised to reward anyone who was able to identify the culprits seen in the widely circulated video, which led many in the Northeast to assumed that the victim was from Nagaland, based on reports of a Naga woman’s death by suicide in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, on Sunday, May 23.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, IPS officer Robin Hibu, Meghalaya MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh and Assam Police were among the few who came out on social media earlier on Thursday to say the viral sexual assault video was not related to the Jodhpur suicide case and that authorities across states were working to ascertain the identity of the victim and the perpetrators.

RELATED | Sexual assault video: 6 arrested in Bangalore; efforts on to find victim

Ramamurthy Nagar Police said in their statement that the video was shot about 10 days ago and the five men, identified as Bangaldeshi citizens, were involved in an international human trafficking network. 

As per a senior official, all the arrested were questioned on Thursday night about the sequence of events that led to the crime and also about their human trafficking network. 

“Based on the contents of the video and preliminary investigation, a case of rape and assault has been registered against 6 persons including 2 women at @ramamurthyngrps,” Bangalore police commissioner Kamal Pant said late on Thursday.

“A police team has also been deputed to an adjoining state to trace the victim so that she could join the investigation. According to the information revealed so far, all of them are part of the same group and are believed to be from Bangladesh. The victim who is also a Bangladeshi was brought to India for trafficking & was tortured & brutalized due to a financial matter,” the Bangalore top cop added.

Earlier on Thursday, the Assam Police had promised to reward anyone who was able to identify the culprits seen in the widely circulated video, which led many in the Northeast to assumed that the victim was from Nagaland, based on reports of a Naga woman’s death by suicide in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, on Sunday, May 23.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, IPS officer Robin Hibu, Meghalaya MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh and Assam Police were among the few who came out on social media earlier on Thursday to say the viral rape video was not related to the Jodhpur suicide case and that authorities across states were working to ascertain the identity of the victim and the perpetrators.

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