Chandigarh Gangrape: Auto Driver Arrested, Accomplices Absconding

The accused, Mohammad Irfan, hails from UP and is a father of four children.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Chandigarh police on 24 November arrested the auto driver who gang-raped a 22-year-old girl on 17 November with two of his accomplices, reported Hindustan Times.

A resident of Zirakpur, a town adjoining Chandigarh, 29-year-old Mohammad Irfan hails from Uttar Pradesh and was arrested by the police after receiving secret information. Irfan identified his accomplices as Garib (22) and Poppu (22), both hailing from UP and are still absconding.

At the time of committing the crime, the three were drunk and they had planned to commit a sexual crime with any woman on 17 November. Accused Irfan was driving the auto and his two accomplices were sitting in the passenger seat along with the victim.

Nilambri Vijay Jagdale, SSP (UT), as reported by <i><a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/gangrape-of-21-year-old-police-arrest-auto-driver-2-accomplices-at-large-4953632/">The Indian Express</a></i>

An auto bearing temporary registration number – CH-78T-2740 – which was used in the crime was also recovered from him.

Reportedly, Irfan also reconstructed the scene of crime and identified the spots from where the victim boarded the auto in Sector 53, and where the victim was gang-raped.

According to the Indian Express, Irfan is a father of four children with two daughters and two sons, and just had a baby earlier this week. He was produced before duty magistrate on 24 November and sent to judicial custody. The police suspect that he might also be involved in other sexual crimes in the vicinity.

The victim, who hails from Dehradun in Uttarakhand, had boarded the shared auto on Friday, 17 November, after attending her stenography class in Sector 37.

The victim was gang-raped by the three men after she hired a shared auto-rickshaw to go back to her paying guest accommodation in Mohali town, adjoining Chandigarh.

The Chandigarh Police, on Wednesday, 22 November, had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for anyone who could provide information about the suspects in the 17 November gangrape of a 22-year-old woman in Chandigarh, Hindustan Times reported.

The victim told the police that the auto driver took the vehicle to the gas station for refueling and then turned towards Sector 52.

The police got the CCTV footage of the auto-rickshaw and its driver from the gas station in Sector 42. SSP Jagdale told the Indian Express that Irfan was aware of the CCTV at the gas station and had covered his face and the number plate of the auto while at the station.

He stopped the auto near a semi-deserted area and said the vehicle had broken down.

When the woman got out of the auto-rickshaw to take another one, the three men pulled her into the bushes and took turns to rape her.

After that, they dumped the victim in Sector 53, the police said.

(With inputs from IANS, PTI, Hindustan Times and The Indian Express)