Event manager held for dancer’s rape

Two other accused still at large, says Police Commissioner

The city police on Saturday cracked the gangrape case of a dancer from Mumbai by arresting an event manager from Mumbai and a milk businessman.

The trader, P. Venkat Raju, hailing from Nizamabad, was caught at Pochampadu and based on his information, a police team that went to Mumbai arrested the event manager, Happy alias Nitin Yadav alias Happy DSouza. Two other accused -- Ajay Sharma alias Ali and Hari Krishna -- were absconding, City Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma told reporters here.

Happy called up the victim, a small-time actress who acted in ad films, requesting her to perform at a party on the eve of New Year celebrations in the city. He told her that Rs.1 lakh would be paid to her and out of which, she had to cough up Rs. 25,000 as commission to him.

After entering into the agreement, the victim landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad where Happy, Raju, Ali and Krishna picked her up in their car and took her to Raju’s rented house in Nizampet.

On their way to Nizampet, they changed cars and purchased beer, soft drinks and chicken ‘pakoda’. They drugged her, offering a soft drink laced with some tablets.

“Once she lost her senses, she was gangraped and the next day, she was put in a bus bound for Mumbai. She woke up the next day in Mumbai and gave a complaint at Versova police station,” Mr. Sharma explained.

The city police recorded her statement on Friday after she approached Central Crime Station (CCS) sleuths. As Ali called the victim when she landed at the Shamshabad airport, the investigators tracked his call details and zeroed in on Raju and caught him. Based on his tip-off, Happy was nabbed in Mumbai. During interrogation, Raju told the police that Rs. 57,000 was withdrawn using the victim’s debit card at an ATM at Nizampet.

The victim’s bag, debit card and other belongings were recovered from Raju’s rented house.

“Though the Mumbai Police conducted a medical examination, we will send the victim for a medical test again to trace drug samples,” the Commissioner said. A hunt is on to trace Ali and Krishna.