Lucknow: Four more persons were arrested after a gunfight on Sunday night in connection with the alleged gang rape of a 23-year-old woman near a deserted stretch in Tronica City.
The four were identified as Imraan (23), Chaand (19), Golu (21) and Sultan (19), all from Khanpur village. A few hours earlier – on Sunday evening – police had nabbed Junaid (24) from a forest after a brief exchange of fire.
DCP (rural) Vivek Yadav said a police team conducted a search of the forest from where Junaid was caught and spotted the other accused later that night. “They fired at the cops in their bid to escape. When the police retaliated, one of them – Imraan – was hit in the leg. All of them were arrested,” he added.
On Thursday evening, the 23-year-old woman – a Delhi resident who works at a toy factory in Tronica City – had accompanied her colleague for a ride in her newly bought scooter after their shift ended. A man – believed to be the boyfriend of the woman who had bought the scooter – joined them a little later.
While the two went for a ride, the Delhi resident waited by the deserted road, scrolling through her phone screen.
Imraan, Junaid and Chand stopped the two on scooter and accused them of getting too intimate. After a brief assault, the attackers asked their names and came to know that they were from the same community as them.
“The trio rushed towards the other woman standing at a distance. They dragged her to a nearby bush and raped her one by one. Imraan raped her first, followed by the other two,” Yadav said.
While the three allegedly gang-raped the woman, two others held on to her friends. “Golu and Sultan kept a watch on the road as well. When they saw a car approaching them, they fled. The woman was taken home by her friends. After she narrated her ordeal to her parents, they lodged a complaint at Tronica City police station,” the DCP said.
Police claimed to have arrested all the accused in the case. They were remanded in judicial custody on Monday.
