Noida, Jan 1 (PTI) The Noida Police on Monday said they arrested three suspects allegedly involved in the rape of a 26-year-old woman in the city.

Two other suspects, including the key accused who is a local strongman, are still at large, the police said.

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The alleged gang rape took place near a shopping mall some time back but the complainant approached the local police on December 30 after repeated harassment by the accused, officials said.

"The FIR was lodged at the Sector 39 police station on December 30 after which an investigation taken up and three of the accused arrested," a police spokesperson said.

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"Those held have been identified as Rajkumar, Aazad and Vikas. Two other suspects identified as Ravi and Mehmi are at large and efforts are underway to arrest them," the spokesperson said.

The complainant had immediately not reported the matter to the police owing to the fact that the perpetrators are "dabang" (strong men) people, the police said in a statement.

However, she approached the police on December 30 upon being blackmailed, harassed by the accused once again, the statement added.

The police said the statement of the complainant had been recorded as per procedures after her medical examination last week.

The arrested accused have been produced in a local court which has remanded them in judicial custody, the police added.

(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)