A pre-university dropout, in dire need of money to start a business, has been found to be the kingpin behind the alleged gang rape of three women working as bar tenders in Gandhinagar area. Investigations have revealed that the gang had plans to force the women into prostitution by blackmailing them.
Girish, the dropout, who stayed in the first floor of the same house in Jnanajyothi Layout in Nagadevanahalli in Bidadi where the five women resided, was arrested along with eight others by the Bidadi police on Tuesday.
On October 20, an armed gang of 12 persons barged into the house in Nagadevanahalli, threatened the victims and robbed them. While five of the women were kidnapped, three were allegedly gang raped.
The arrested are Jaki, Nagesh , Prasanna , Sanjay , Shivakumar , Vishwanath , S. Kiran and Sudha, who runs a beauty parlour in Nagarbhavi area. The police recovered six mobile phones, one gold chain and a TV from them.
The police zeroed in on Girish when they began to track his phone calls and found that he had made several calls and SMS to his associates. The police picked up Girish, and during detailed questioning, he not only confessed to the crime but also led them to the gang members.
Plan
Girish, sources said, confessed that he needed money for a business venture and was under the mistaken assumption that the bar girls were rich. As per his plan, Girish was at home and tipped off the others about the arrival of the women. His associates, waiting in a van, barged into the house after overpowering the security guard and robbed the victims. While three women were gang raped at the house, five of them were kidnapped and taken to Sudha’s residence, police said. While the accused attempted to rape the victims again to take videos of the act in order to blackmail them, this plan could not be executed as Girish panicked. The girls were taken to a secluded stretch of Magadi Road and left there. Efforts are on to nab three more accused, N.M. Ramalingappa, Deputy Superintendent of Police, said.
