The Ghatkesar kidnapping and rape case in Telangana took a surprising turn on Saturday after Rachakonda Commissioner of Police Mahesh M Bhagwat revealed that the 19-year-old woman cooked up the story and misled the police.
The kidnapping case of the college student was reported in the Keesara police station area in Malkajgiri of Telangana. The woman was traced within two hours from an isolated place on Wednesday as the incident garnered attention.
Reportedly, police had formed 10 teams after the woman claimed to have been kidnapped and gang-raped by four auto drivers.
“After a thorough investigation and gathering technical evidence, we have come to the conclusion that the incident has not occurred. The woman confessed that due to family issues she wanted to leave her house but after the police got involved, she panicked and weaved a false story,” said Bhagwat. “Due to some previous grudges against the accused auto driver, she wrongly implicated him about his involvement,” he added.
Background
On February 10 at 6:30 pm, Keesara Police received a call on Dial-100 informing them about the abduction of a pharma college student by an auto driver. On receiving the information, patrol teams swung into action, rushed to the spot, and the parents of the girl, a 2nd year B. Pharmacy student.
The family informed police that after attending classes, the woman was returning from college. At around 6 pm, she had called her mother and informed her that the auto driver did not halt at her stop at RL Nagar. Later, her phone was unreachable.
Based on the information of the mother, the officers started checking vehicles with teams from the Keesara and Ghatkesar police stations.
CCTV footage revealed that she got down from the auto at a stop beyond Yamnampet, Bhagwat said. “She then started walking therefrom for four kilometers and again boarded an auto and got down at Annojiguda and walked for some distance. The Police team got the mobile location and also called her, asked to share her live location which helped in reaching her,” Bhagwat said.
Finally, she was traced to an isolated spot “with injuries on her legs and in a semi-dressed” condition, Bhagwat said. She was shifted to a nearby private hospital. Initially, police lodged a kidnapping case but later on after medical examination, gangrape charges were added based on the woman’s statement.
Special teams were formed and a manhunt was launched to arrest the accused auto driver. Police scanned around 100 CCTV footage, call records of the victim, and took tower locations. However, police found that the evidence was contradicting the woman’s claims.
Commissioner Bhagwat thanked and appreciated private hospitals and auto unions for their cooperation with the police and helping them in solving the case.
