Bhayander rape case: Cops nab accused, claim breakthrough

With the arrest of a 42-year-old man from Jessal Park in Bhayander on Monday, the Thane district rural police claimed to have made a major breakthrough in cracking the alleged rape of a woman at gunpoint last week.

The police said in Thane on Monday that it had arrested one Pankaj Shrichand Bothra (42) from Jessal Park, in connection with the crime. It was on May 30, that the two people called a 29-year-old lady from Andheri to Bhayander under the pretext of getting her a job.

When she arrived at the station, the duo pushed her into a car and one "Deepak" (whose real name is still unknown) allegedly raped her in the car itself, while Bothra held a revolver to her head in the broad daylight, in the busy Bhayander area, in front of a bank ATM, the police said. On the same day, the survivor lodged a complaint at the DN Nagar police station in Andheri and the police transferred the case to the Navghar police for a probe.

On Sunday, the Navghar police launched a manhunt for the rapists and finally nabbed Bothra from Jessal Park today, the police said. Police is hunting for the other accused "Deepak".

The police said that the duo has been booked under Sections 376, 377, 506(2) read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code as well as Section 3 and Section 25 of the Arms Act.