Telephone operator gangrape: 5th accused in judicial custody

Mumbai: The fifth accused arrested in connection with the July 31 telephone operator gangrape case was today remanded in judicial custody till September 19. The crime branch told the court that they want to conduct an identification parade of accused Mohammed Ashfaque Sheikh, who was arrested yesterday from Girgaon Chowpatty. Crime branch also told the court that the telephone operator has identified other four accused, including a juvenile, and prayed for Sheikh’s judicial custody as well.

Accepting crime branch’s plea, the court remanded Sheikh in judicial custody. The 18-year-old telephone operator was allegedly gangraped at the deserted Shakti Mills compound in Mahalaxmi on July 31 by five men, three of who were also involved in the August 22 photojournalist gangrape case, police said. The three accused involved in both the cases are Salim Ansari, Vijay Jadhav, Mohammed Qasim alias ‘Qasim Bangali’, who are currently in jail. The fourth accused, who is a minor, has already been arrested in this (July 31) case and lodged in juvenile remand home in south Mumbai’s Dongri area. On the evening of August 22, a photojournalist was sexually assaulted at the Shakti Mills compound, when she had gone there on an assignment with her male colleague. The police nabbed all five accused in the case within three days. On September 3, another gangrape came to light, after the 18-year-old complained to the police that she too had been gangraped by a group of five men on the mill premises on July 31.

PTI