National   

Three accused to be taken to Orissa

— PHOTO: Special Arrangement

FACING THE LAW: Three persons arrested from Palakkad on Saturday in connection with the rape of a nun in Kandhamal district being taken to the Palakkad District Court on Sunday.

Palakkad: The District Court on Sunday remanded to police custody three persons arrested in connection with the rape of a nun in Kandhamal district of Orissa.

A mob had assaulted and raped the 28-year-old nun at K. Nuagaon village on August 25 when communal violence broke out in Kandhamal district after the murder of VHP leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati on August 23. She had lodged a complaint with the police on August 26.

A team of Crime Branch officials from Cuttack on Saturday arrested Mitu Patnaik, 25, Saroj Ghadei, 42, and Munna Ghadei, 22, workers in a rice mill, from Mariappadam in Kizhakkanchery with the help of the Mangalam Dam police.

The accused will be taken to Orissa on Monday. “Only further investigation in Orissa will reveal possible involvement of the three in the case,” Crime Branch officials told reporters.

Munna Ghadei had worked in various rice mills, construction sites and hotels in Palakkad in the last five years. His father, Saroj Ghadei, came to Kerala for work only recently. Mitu had worked in different parts of Kerala in the last three years.

The police said that Munna and Mitu had left Palakkad for Orissa a few months ago and returned 15 days ago along with Saroj.

The police are also investigating the case from another angle. “Munna and Mitu allegedly had a tiff with their former employer, a contractor from Orissa, who owed them some money. The workers had recently found new jobs in a rice mill with the help of a new contractor, a Tamilian. The new employer promised Rs. 4,000 a month and free lodging to each. The change of job had infuriated their former employer. He allegedly spread false information about the workers. The police are looking into this new angle in the case,” an investigating officer said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

CPI(M) condemns Adilabad killings
Modi’s open letter to Buddhadeb, Mamata
Three accused to be taken to Orissa
66 Sri Lankan fishermen held, 12 boats seized
India for expanding border trade with Myanmar
Camps in Dhule full of people who are too scared to return home
Modhvadia does a volte face
Kerala police suspect ploy by terrorists
Don’t play with fire, says Mamata
Six members of a family burnt alive in Adilabad
Man set on fire; suffers 50 per cent burns
“Situation in Assam returning to normal”
AASU opposes Mahanta’s return to AGP
Malegaon blast toll mounts to 6
INLD back in NDA, to contest Lok Sabha polls in Haryana with BJP

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu