Cops recover gang rape survivor’s gold chain, sharp weapon used in crime

Pune: Investigators from the Pune police crime branch recovered the Bopdev Ghat gang rape survivor's gold chain and a sharp weapon used in the crime from the house of prime accused Shoaib alias Akhtar Babu Shaikh (27), a ragpicker, at Adarshnagar in Mantarwadi."Akhtar had kept the chain hidden in a cavity under the roof of the tin shed where he stays. The sharp weapon was found under his bed. We conducted his medical examination and collected samples of his blood, nail, hair, saliva, and sperm for DNA profiling and other medical evidence purposes," crime branch (unit V) inspector Yuvraj Hande said on Tuesday. There is no trace yet of the third suspect wanted in the case. "The third suspect, a casual worker hailing from Bhavaninagar in Baramati, keeps moving around from one place to another in search of work and does not carry a cellphone. His parents in Bhavaninagar told us that he left home three years ago and hadn't met them so far. He has also abandoned his wife," a police officer privy to the investigations said.The rape survivor, hailing from a city in Gujarat and pursuing studies in event management in Pune, and her friend (22), a chartered accountancy student from north Maharashtra, went to Bopdev Ghat on a night out around 11pm on Oct 3. An hour later, the three suspects approached them near the "Table Point" on the ghat. They attacked and forced her friend to remove his shirt and belt. They used the same to tie him up before taking turns to rape the young woman.After an elaborate weeklong hunt, the police made their first arrest in the case on Oct 11 in the form of Chandrakumar Raviprasad Kanaujia (20), a labourer from Kadnagar in Undri. Kanaujia is presently lodged in the Yerawada central prison under judicial custody. Later, in a coordinated action with Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force, the police arrested Akhtar from Prayagraj on Oct 14.A city court in Wanowrie on Tuesday sent Akhtar to magisterial custody for 14 days following the end of his initial custodial remand. Assistant public prosecutor Aamrapali Kasture said the police reserved their right to seek Akhtar's custodial remand to confront him with Kanaujia and to conduct his test identification parade (TIP).Inspector Hande said, "We have written a letter to a tehsildar-cum-magistrate seeking his appointment for Kanaujia's TIP in the Yerawada prison. We are waiting for a response from the magistrate to finalise the date. We would be sending another letter to the tehsildar to jointly conduct the TIP of Kanaujia and Akhtar together."Once the TIP date is fixed, the prison authorities will have to make arrangements like bringing in dummy suspects with him. The accused would be kept standing among the dummies during the process of identification by the survivor, he added.
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