HYDERABAD: Police investigating the Jubilee Hills gang rape case said their first priority is to counter bail pleas of the offenders, including children in conflict with law (CCL), and conduct identification (ID) parade of the accused, paving way for quick filing of charge sheet. So far, police have not gathered any information from the accused if anyone has advised them to tamper with evidence or evade police prior to their arrest.
Even though it was evident that three of the five CCL involved in the case had driven four-wheelers and a bike on the day of the offence, no case has been booked in this regard against the owners of the vehicles. While the Benz, driven by a minor, is registered in the name of his mother, the Innova is registered in the name of a state government body chairman's family member.
Before committing the gang rape, the chairman's son asked the family driver to get off the vehicle near a bakery in Banjara Hills and a minor from Sangareddy drove the Innova to a secluded place in Jubilee Hills, where the offence took place. “The minors sent the driver to have food at the bakery and took away the vehicle,” police said.
The minor son of an MLA, who is accused of molesting the survivor, came to Banjara Hills on a bike and parked it at a meat store chain, where he met the other offenders. “We have sought legal opinion about registering cases against the vehicle owners since minors drove them without the knowledge of the adults. Some of them were not even in the city when the offence took place," a Jubilee Hills police officer said.
Investigators said that since the police custody of the accused was over, they were preparing grounds to counter bail petitions. “We have already moved petitions to conduct ID parade for all accused and collect their blood samples. We are trying to get forensic analysis of evidence, including cell phone data and DNA analysis, to file charge sheet quickly,” an investigator said.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
