‘Mumbai gangrape suspects raped two others in same area in past six months’

The accused also allegedly raped a commercial sex worker and a ragpicker inside Shakti Mills,and were emboldened by the fact that both cases were not reported to the police. “All three previous attacks took place in the past six months,” a police source said.

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The Mumbai Police Crime Branch Tuesday said while it was yet to trace a ragpicker who had witnessed the gangrape on August 22,it had located a person who would be able to testify that suspect Salim Ansari called his accomplices Mohammed Qasim Shaikh alias Bengali,Siraj Rehman Khan and the juvenile suspect to the crime scene.

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“We have got an important witness who was sitting with Qasim,Siraj and the first arrested suspect around 5.30 pm on August 22,when Qasim received a call from Salim. The trio left to join Salim after the call. The witness and the three suspects were playing cards at a shanty near the crime scene. The call between Salim and Qasim has been confirmed by Call Data Records of the suspect,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy.

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Police have seized Salim’s mobile phone. The Crime Branch is likely to recover Qasim’s phone soon. “We have identified the person to whom Qasim sold his phone. This person resold it to someone else,” said Roy.

The five suspects were also subjected to psychological forensic tests at N M Joshi Marg unit of the Crime Branch Tuesday to verify their claims. “Two doctors from the Gujarat Forensic Sciences Laboratory began Layered Voice Analysis tests on the accused. As part of this,the suspect’s voice is first recorded when he is relaxed and talking normally. Then,questions are asked about his crimes and past history,and the standard deviation in the two voice recordings is noted. This gives an entry point for further probe,though it is not admissible in court,” said Roy.

“These tests are being conducted only to confirm the claims they are making during interrogation. We want to know about the past background of the suspects,though no sexual offence has been registered against them in the past,” said Roy.