Five sent to judicial custody; minor sent to Government Balamandira; another accused likely to be produced before Court this evening

Mysore/Mysuru: All the seven accused in the gang rape case that occurred at the foot of Chamundi Hill have been arrested by the City Police. The seventh accused was rounded off from a village near Tirupur yesterday and has been brought back to the city.

The seventh accused has been identified as Selva and he was on the run as he had knowledge that all his accomplices had been arrested. He had switched off his mobile phone knowing that the Mysuru Police were tracking him down with the help of Tirupur Police.

Though there were rumours that the last accused in the case was arrested two days back, the City Police were tight-lipped. Today they have confirmed that the culprit has been arrested and has been brought to Mysuru. The arrest team was led by Krishnaraja ACP Poornachandra Tejaswi. 

The Police are likely to produce the accused before the Court this evening and will seek Police custody for interrogation.

Last evening, the Cops produced other six accused, who were arrested earlier, to the Court as the 10-day Police custody ended. The Court has remanded the five accused to judicial custody while the accused minor has been sent to Government Balamandira as per the guidelines of Juvenile Justice Act. 

Based on the statements given by the seventh accused, the Police are likely to seek Police custody of all the accused who have been sent to judicial custody. “All depends on the statements of the last accused and we will re-seek Police custody if there are grounds and more angles need to be probed,” said  Police sources.

The Police are making efforts to find out the actual age of the accused minor as he has claimed that his age is 17.

After the infamous 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder in New Delhi, the Juvenile Justice Act, which allows children aged between 16 and 18 years and in conflict with the law to be tried as adults in cases of heinous offences, took effect in January 2016. 

The City Police, however, did not subject the minor to medical tests, sources said.