Third accused in Surat gang-rape case arrested

Ahmedabad: Police have arrested the third and last accused wanted for the alleged rape of a teenage girl in Gujarat's Surat district earlier this week, officials said on Friday.

Raju Vishwakarma (35), absconding after the alleged sexual of the 17-year-old girl near Mota Borsara village under Mangrol taluka of Surat district on the night of October 8, was nabbed from Sabarmati railway station of Ahmedabad, an official said.

His two associates were apprehended earlier.

"Based on a tip-off regarding his whereabouts, a Surat district police team nabbed Vishwakarma from a Mumbai-Ajmer train at Sabarmati railway station on Thursday night. He was later brought to Surat. Vishwakarma is one of the three accused involved in the gang-rape," said police inspector of Surat Local Crime Branch, Rajesh Bhatol.

The Surat police had earlier arrested two accused - Shivshankar Chaurasia (45) and Munna Paswan (40) -- for the crime.

Paswan and Chaurasia were nabbed on October 9, a day after the crime, and later remanded to police custody by a court.

In a twist in the case, on Thursday, Chaurasia died in a Surat hospital, where he was taken after he complained of breathing difficulty in police custody.

The teenager had gone to a village to meet friends after attending coaching class. She and her male friend were sitting in a deserted place on their way to a petrol pump along a highway when three men approached them, police said.

While the girl's male friend escaped, the trio raped the minor before fleeing with her and her friend's mobile phones. After being alerted, police registered a case of gang-rape and other charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.