Bhubaneswar, Sep 14 (IANS) Three persons have been arrested in connection with the gang-rape of a woman, who was a Facebook friend of one of them, in Bhubaneswar, said a police official on Sunday.

The accused persons were identified as Chandan Ku Hati alias Chandu, 25, and Prasanna Ku Acharya, 37, of Chasikhanda village under Biridi police station area, and Rajesh Kumar Das, 32, Jagatsinghpur Town police station area of Jagatsinghpur district.

Police sources claimed that the 23-year-old victim came into contact with the prime accused, Chandan, through the popular social media platform Facebook.

Subsequently, the two developed a romantic relationship through their interactions on Facebook. During the frequent interactions, the accused Chandan allegedly promised to help the victim meet a musician and get a chance as a singer.

Chandan, in connivance with other accused persons, hatched a plan and called her to a lodge on the pretext of a photo shoot.

As per the complaint lodged by the survivor’s sister, trusting in the promise made by her accused boyfriend, the victim, on September 10, left her house to meet a musician. Later, the accused persons, Chandan and Prasanna, took the victim to a lodge located in the Chandrasekharpur area of the city, where the prime accused, Chandan’s friend, Rajesh, works as a caretaker.

The victim’s sister, in her complaint, alleged that the accused persons sexually abused the woman with the help of the accused caretaker at the lodge.

Based on the complaint, the police started an investigation into the matter after registering a case (147/25) in this regard on September 11.

“During the investigation, it came to light that the accused had lured the victim under false pretences of helping her meet a musician. They made her consume some drug-spiked food items in the lodge. They forcibly confined her in a room of the lodge, where she was subsequently sexually abused by the accused persons. The accused Rajesh, who was the caretaker of the lodge, facilitated the accused in committing the heinous crime,” said a senior police official.

The police said that, following reliable information, all three accused persons were arrested on Saturday and confessed to their crimes during interrogation. They were produced before the court which sent them to judicial custody.

–IANS

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