Hampi rape murder: How interstate operation led to arrest of 3rd suspect from Tamil Nadu
In an inter-state operation, a team of Karnataka police officers Sunday arrested a third suspect in the Hampi rape-murder case from an undisclosed location in Tamil Nadu.
Two women — a 27-year-old Israeli tourist and her female homestay host – were gang-raped and assaulted while stargazing at Sanapur lake, near Hampi, in a shocking accident in which a 26-year-old tourist from Odisha was fatally pushed into a Tungabhadra canal and two others were assaulted on Thursday night.
The other two suspects arrested on Saturday — Mallesh alias Handi Mallesh, 22, and Chetan Sai Sillekyatar, 21, currently in police custody — were taken to the scene of crime on Sunday for reconstruction of events. All three suspects are facing charges of sexual assault, assault and the murder of a tourist.
Koppal police said the body of Odisha victim Bibhas Nayak was handed over to his father and brother-in-law by Saturday afternoon. The ambulance with the body reached Nayak’s home village Derabadi in Kandhamal district on Sunday where he was buried later in the day.
The third suspect, identified only as Sharanappa, was subjected to medical examination in Tamil Nadu and is being brought to Karnataka by road. He is expected to reach Gangavathi post midnight. Police, who made the third arrest in a hush-hush operation, remained tight-lipped on the details of the arrest.
The group of five – two foreign nationals, two domestic tourists and the homestay host — was camping in the open near the canal, playing guitar and stargazing when three miscreants, allegedly inebriated, picked a fight and assaulted the group in Gangavathi’s Sanapur, about 25km from Hampi.
The two sexual-assault survivors, who had been admitted to Gangavathi Sub-Division Hospital early Friday, were discharged by 10am Sunday, according to chief medical officer Dr Ishwar Savadi.
The body of Bibhas was fished out from the canal around 11am Saturday from near Mallapur power station, about 2km downstream from the spot where he was assaulted, police said, adding villagers in the area found a body floating around 7am and informed police.
Sources said postmortem was conducted at Gangavathi Sub-Division Hospital on Saturday. After the body of Bibhas Nayak reached his hometown in Odisha, people from nearby areas gathered in G Udayagiri. The body was buried as per traditional customs in G Udayagiri. “We can’t believe that Bibhas is no more,” said Bonhami, the deceased’s sister.
“We condemn the incident. Hope to get justice soon,” said Firoj Kumar Pradhan, a relative of the deceased.
Bibhas was working at a private hospital in New Delhi. Bibhas’s parents live in Agra. He had visited his native place over a year ago. The family previously lived in Daringbadi before relocating to G Udayagiri, sources said.
District minister Shivaraj Tangadagi Sunday directed superintendent of police Ram L Arasiddi to scale up police presence in the Sanapur region following the incident. The minister said an advisory should be sent out to advise tourists against venturing out at night, ensure strict measures against the three arrested suspects, and monitor illegal activities in the region.
