By Tejas
Pune, October 13, 2024: The Pune city police arrested a 20-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh on Friday in connection with the Bopdev Ghat gang rape case. The accused, Chandrakumar Raviprasad Kanojiya, was produced before the court on Saturday, which remanded him in police custody until October 15. The police informed the court that the accused would undergo medical examination and DNA testing.
Kanojiya, a resident of Dindori in Madhya Pradesh, was one of the suspects involved in the brutal rape of a college-going girl at Bopdev Ghat on October 3. After the attack, he had been on the run along with his accomplices. Finally, he was arrested by police in the Yerawada area of Kondhwa on October 11.
During the court proceedings, Assistant Public Prosecutor Vijaysinh Jadhav emphasised the gravity of the crime. He informed the court that a medical examination and DNA test would be conducted on the accused, and the police were still searching for the car and other vehicles used during the crime. Jadhav requested the court to extend police custody to the accused for further investigation.
Jadhav also said that Kanojiya and his accomplices are repeat offenders, with multiple complaints registered against them. While Kanojiya has been apprehended, the other two suspects remain at large, and the police are working to track them down. Jadhav argued that the accused must remain in police custody to facilitate the investigation and to locate the other suspects.
Preliminary investigations in the case have revealed that all the accused in the case hail from Madhya Pradesh and have a history of criminal activity. On the night of the crime, they turned off their mobile phones around 10 p.m., consumed alcohol at a spot in the ghat, and were preparing to rob passersby. When they saw a young couple sitting at ghat in the night, they tied the male friend of the girl to the tree and brutally raped the girl. Following the incident, all the accused fled via Saswad route.