Five security guards were arrested in Gujarat's Palanpur on Friday for the alleged involvement in gang rape and robbery while they were trying to flee to neighbouring Rajasthan, a police official said.
They are accused of raping a 20-year-old woman who worked as a maid, looting cash, an ATM card and a vehicle from a flat in Ahmedabad's Bopol area in the early hours of the day, Superintendent of Police Amit Vasava said.
The five accused, three of whom are natives of Punjab and two from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, were held from a bus in Banaskantha district, which shares a border with Rajasthan, he added.
"They had planned to carry out robbery before leaving for home for Diwali vacations. They entered a flat which had a 40-year-old woman and her 20-year-old maid. The building is new with just five to six occupants," he said.
"On Thursday evening, they disconnected supply to the flat a few times. The maid used to come down when this happened. At 2am on Friday, they followed the maid to the flat, forced their way in, raped her and looted Rs 14,000, withdrew Rs 40,000 using the ATM they had stolen, as well as a laptop and a four-wheeler in which they fled," he said.
Three of the five accused went inside the flat, one stood outside, while the role of the fifth is being ascertained, the SP added. Banaskantha Superintendent of Police Akshay Raj Makwana said police teams in the district swung into action after being informed by their Ahmedabad Rural counterparts, set up barricades along the way and managed to arrest the five accused.
"Using human intelligence and technical surveillance, we arrested them from near Palanpur. Cash, a laptop, the ATM card have been recovered," Makwana said.
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