Eight arrested on charge of gang-raping a woman on the outskirts of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh

Search is on for another accused in the case, says DSP; four of the accused allegedly whisked the victim away at knifepoint in an autorickshaw to the city outskirts, where they called five other friends and committed the crime

The police on June 18 (Sunday) arrested eight persons on the charge of gangraping a 22-year-old woman, at Kondayapalem on the outskirts of Nellore, near Vedayapalem, on June 10.

Addressing the media here, Deputy Superintendent of Police D. Srinivasa Reddy said efforts were on to nab another accused, Jagadeesh, who had absconded after the sexual assault.

The unmarried victim had reportedly come from Srikakulam district to assist her sister who was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Nellore.

At around noon that day, when the woman came out to buy medicines, four of the accused allegedly threatened to kill her with a knife if she raised an alarm, pushed her into an autorickshaw and took her away to a lonely place on the city outskirts. After committing the crime, they called five other friends, who also allegedly sexually assaulted the woman, the DSP said.

Special teams formed by Superintendent of Police K. Tirumaleswara Reddy achieved a breakthrough when they identified the registration number of the autorickshaw by using various Information Technology tools and scanning the CCTV footages from various locations, the DSP said.

The police seized the knife, the autorickshaw and two motorcycles from the eight accused who were identified as K. Bhanu Vishnuvardhan (22), Yugandhar (21), A.S. Krishna (20), K. Bhanu Saivardhan (22), Sk. Hussain Basha (20), M. Sai Satwik (21), K. Ajay (20) and K. Revanth (21).