UDUPI: Exactly a week after the heinous sexual assault on a medical student of Manipal's Kasturba Medical College, police on Thursday arrested two people — Yogesh Poojari, 30, a resident of Ontibettu, and Hariprasad Poojari, 27, a resident of Badagabettu, Parkala.
Yogesh was critical in KMC Hospital, Manipal after consuming poison. Late evening, the third accused, Anand, 28, from Badagabettu, who had been absconding since morning, was admitted to KMC Hospital in a serious condition after he attempted suicide by hanging.
Giving details of how they cracked the case, Inspector General of Police (western range) Pratap Reddy said that they received reliable information from sources three days ago that Yogesh could be a suspect in the case.
The police officer said: "The only clue we had in this case was that an autorickshaw had been used in the crime and three men had abducted the medical student. We started tracking the movement of rowdysheeters, bad elements and screened autorickshaw drivers on suspicion, their past and which places the suspects visited after the crime. We zeroed in on a person based on suspicion and police teams started shadowing him."
The IGP said that in a surprise development, Yogesh called him on Thursday while attempting suicide which led to the breakthrough. The police traced the call to a wooded area at Athradi, about 3km from Manipal, where they found Yogesh. Hariprasad was nabbed after Yogesh gave clues about his associates.
According to information police gleaned from the accused, it was not a premeditated crime. Last Thursday night, the three men were drunk and went on a joyride through the Manipal campus. The auto, driven by Hariprasad, was registered in his brother's name. The auto is a Bajaj two-stroke rear-engine vehicle.
The IGP said: "During the autorickshaw-screening exercise, we had checked this auto too. It's like any other auto and didn't raise any suspicion. Moreover, the description we got from the victim that it had a Ganesha idol with a light and that it was slightly damaged proved to be wrong. The auto had an idol of Radha and Krishna and there was no light."
While Yogesh is a rowdysheeter with cases of rioting, Harikrishna doesn't face any cases. "We did not have the time to question the accused properly. According to preliminary investigations, they abducted and sexually assaulted the student."
Asked if the victim knew any of the accused, the IGP said none of the accused had confirmed this.
Rape accused calls IGP, owns up crime
You have identified me. I am responsible for this act. I know you won't spare me." This short and to-the-point call was made to IGP (Western Range) Pratap Reddy by Yogesh Poojary, one of the three suspects in the Manipal rape case. He made the confession call soon after attempting to commit suicide. Though Poojary was on the police radar for some time, he chose to out himself by making a call to the IGP. The call was traced to a wooded area on the fringes of Manipal.
The police traced the call to a wooded area at Athrady, about 3km from Manipal, where they found Yogesh. Hariprasad was nabbed after Yogesh gave clues about his associates.
According to information police gleaned from the accused, it was not a premeditated crime. Last Thursday night, the three men were drunk and went on a joyride through the Manipal campus and chanced upon the victim. The auto, driven by Hariprasad, was registered in his brother's name. The auto is a Bajaj two-stroke rearengine vehicle.
The IGP said: "We had checked this auto too. It's like any other auto and didn't raise any suspicion. Moreover, the description we got from the victim that it had a Ganesha idol with a light and that it was slightly damaged proved to be wrong. The auto had an idol of Radha and Krishna and there was no light." "We did not have the time to question the accused properly. According to preliminary investigations, they abducted and sexually assaulted the student." Asked if the victim knew any of the accused, the IGP said none of the accused had confirmed this.
Source: Times of India
