The Ahmedabad Crime Branch on Thursday arrested a 45-year-old man for allegedly being involved in two cases of gang rape near Narmada canal in Kadi town under Mehsana on Thursday. According to police, the accused Akbar Sandhi Dafer alias Lulo (45), a native of Viramgam in Ahmedabad, and two of his accomplices allegedly gang-raped two women on October 27 and 30 near the Narmada canal area route in Kadi area of Mehsana. In both the cases, the gang targeted women accompanied by their male partners, who were subdued by them before attacking the women. “On October 27, a case of gang rape was registered in which three unknown men stopped a couple travelling on a scooter at the Narmada canal in Kadi around 7.30 pm. The accused overpowered the man and tied him up. Then they tried to loot valuables from the woman but they didn’t find any. Then, they gang-raped her and took the helmet from the man before fleeing. On October 30, three unknown men entered the house of a couple who lived near the Narmada canal in Kadi and overpowered the husband by tying his legs and arms. Then the accused gang-raped the woman and looted valuables from their house. An investigation was launched by the police into both the incidents,” said BV Gohil, assistant commissioner of police, Ahmedabad LCB. Police said that one of the accused, Sandhi, was arrested on Wednesday night, on a tip-off on his role in the gang rape cases. “He has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 376 2 for gang rape, 342 for wrongful confinement and 506 for criminal intimidation,” said Gohil. Police are now trying to arrest his accomplices. “The modus operandi of the gang is to target couples on deserted roads, overpower the man and then gang-rape the woman after looting their valuables. Sandhi has one murder case, 11 loot cases and seven cases of Arms Act lodged against him,” said Gohil.
