Less than a week after the gang-rape of a 22-year-old medical student of Manipal University, police have arrested all the three accused in the case.
Police arrested Yogesh Shantappa Poojary (30), after tracing his confession call to Inspector General of Police (Western Range) Pratap Reddy on Thursday. Yogesh had consumed poison, in a bid to commit suicide, before making the call.
"He first consumed poison and then gave a call to us. He was groaning over phone and heard him saying the police will catch him, but will not let that happen," Reddy told reporters.
Police traced the call and admitted Yogesh to a hospital, where he is now in a stable condition. On interrogation, he revealed details of his two accomplices - Hariprasad Poojary (27) and Anand (28).
Hariprasad, also an auto-rickshaw driver, was previously questioned when police were interrogating rickshaw drivers of the area.
Police arrested the third accused, Anand, from his village right before he was trying to hang himself.
"The police, who were searching for him since morning near Onthibettu village, made timely intervention and prevented him from committing suicide. Anand has been rushed to KMC hospital and is undergoing treatment," said Reddy, reported PTI.
Authorities have concluded the the crime was not pre-meditated. The three accused were said to be under the influence of alcohol on the night of 20 June when they abducted the girl and raped her. After the heinous act, the victim was dropped off near her residence.
According to Reddy, the victim's initial leads proved faulty.
"None of the accused sports a French beard. The idol in the auto-rickshaw was also different than what we were looking for. We were 99% sure of one spot. But after the preliminary investigation we found we were wrong," he told The Times of India.
Soon after the incident, twelve police teams with 200 personnel were scouted for the miscreants to avert any reoccurrence of such crimes.
