The victim’s accurate description of the eight men helped the police nab the seven suspects accused of sexually assaulting a law student on Bangalore University’s Jnana Bharathi campus on October 13. The eighth man is on the run.
After the sketches were ready, they were matched with the photo gallery of habitual offenders in which two photos matched the sketches. The police also tracked cellphone calls from the mobile tower nearest to the scene of crime.
“We first zeroed in on two accused, whose portraits matched the description given by the victim. They were picked up from near the Revenue Office in Ramanagaram. Later, others were rounded up after getting information from the two,” a police official familiar with the investigations told The Hindu .
“Clinching evidence was calls made by the accused using the victim’s mobile phone.”
The suspects are residents of Mettari Doddi in Dasegowdana Doddi village and regularly trespassed into to the university campus in search of sandalwood trees as well as firewood. On October 13, they were looking to poach sandalwood trees when they came across the couple in the car.
The suspects are in police custody. Commissioner B.G. Jyothi Prakash Mirji announced Rs. 1 lakh as reward for the investigative team. He said they were awaiting medical reports of the victim and her friend.
Case cracked: Police Commissioner B.G. Jyothi Prakash Mirji showing the photo of the suspects. The seventh man, Rama, was shot five times on his legs while resisting arrest at the Jnana Bharathi campus on Saturday. Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy
