India News | CBI Searches Rape Accused's House

Hanshkhali (WB), Apr 14 (PTI) CBI sleuths on Thursday broke open the lock and searched the residence of the prime accused in the alleged gang rape rape of a minor girl at Hanskhali, who subsequently died, an officer of the probe body said.

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The house is where the alleged crime was committed on April 4 and the investigating agency collected samples from there before locking the house, he said.

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The CBI sleuths were accompanied by personnel of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory and the entire search operation and evidence collection were videographed, he said.

The search continued till late on Thursday night due to a power cut in the area.

The central investigating agency has been directed by Calcutta High Court to probe the incident in which the prime accused is the son of a ruling TMC leader of Hanskhali panchayat.

"The power cut slowed our search operation at the house. We have collected several samples from the room where the alleged crime was carried out. They will be sent for forensic tests," the CBI officer said.

During the CBI search locals approached its sleuths and claimed that the men and boys of the area are being threatened by the family and accomplices of the accused. They also requested for protection.

The district police has already arrested the prime accused Sohail Goyali and his friend Prabhakar Poddar.

The CBI team, which has two woman officers, is expected to conduct another round of search operation at the residence of the accused and its surrounding area on Friday in connection with the investigation in the crime, the officer said.

The team had reached Hanshkhali on Wednesday night and collected the case diary and other documents related to the probe conducted by the district police. "We may go and meet the parents the girl on Friday and record their statement," the officer said.

The girl's father had claimed on Wednesday that the accused had snatched his daughter's body at gunpoint and cremated her.

The girl's parents have also alleged that they were threatened with dire consequences if they reported the matter to the police.

The girl, a student of class 9, died after she was allegedly gang raped at a birthday party in that house on April 4. The family had lodged the police complaint on April 10.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)