Hyderabad:
Two people were today arrested in connection with the alleged gang-rape of a Mumbai-based model in Hyderabad on New Year's eve. The police says two other accused, who have been identified, are still at large.
The model was reportedly called by a contact, saying she would be paid Rs 1 lakh for an event in Hyderabad. The contact, Happy, who is now one of the accused, had even asked for Rs 25,000 as commission.
The girl came in by an Indigo flight on December 31 from Mumbai to Hyderabad. The men met her at the airport and took her to a house in Nizampet area that had been rented by one of them, Venkat Raju. There she was given drinks laced with sedatives and then allegedly gang-raped.
The next day she was put on a bus to Mumbai, apparently while she was still unconscious. She only recovered a day later after reaching Mumbai, realised what had transpired and reported to the Mumbai Police.
Of the four accused, Happy alias Nitin Yadav, was Mumbai-based and her initial contact. Happy and Venkatraju, from Nizamabad, have been arrested. The other two, Ajay Sharma alias Ali, who shifted to Mumbai four months ago, and Harikrishna, also from Nizamabad, are still absconding.
The accused had also confessed that they had withdrawn Rs 57,000 using the ATM card of the victim, in two instalments of Rs 40,000 and Rs 17,000.
The police recovered the ATM card and other personal items of the model, like cosmetics and clothes from the house in Nizampet where the alleged incident took place.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma said they had taken the case as a challenge and got a breakthrough within 24 hours. The case is still under investigation, he said. The model was being sent for tests to determine what kind of sedatives had been given to her. The police will also question the driver and conductor of the bus in which she travelled to Mumbai.