Police release CCTV footage of auto used for abudcting girl

A day after unveiling the sketch of a suspect, police today released the CCTV footage of the abduction of a 22-year-old medical student of Manipal University in an autorikshaw by three persons, who gangraped her last week, and announced a reward of Rs two lakh for information leading to  the arrest of the culprits.

The footage has helped the police in identifying the design and model of the autoriskshaw used for kidnapping and dropping of the victim back to the apartment after the crime, IGP (Western Range) Pratap Reddy told reporters here.

Police have sought the help from scientific institutions to enhance the clarity of the video footage so that they could get some more vital clues to crack the case, Reddy said.

Reddy asked autorikshaw drivers to cooperate with the police to nab the culprits.
The student from Kerala was returning to her room from the library when the culprits kidnapped her from the Manipal University campus and gangraped her outside on Thursday night. Police have formed 12 teams with 200 persons working on the case.

Police have so far questioned 47 people and interrogated about seven persons who resemble the sketch of one of the accused released yesterday, Reddy said. Anti-social elements and rowdysheeters were also being questioned.

Police had also sought the help from the Regional Transport Officer (RTO) to launch a special drive to provide information on about 3,000 autorikshaws to expedite the probe, Reddy said. "In the next two days, we should be able to complete this process."

Karnataka police are in touch with their counterparts in Kerala, who are also working on the case, Reddy said.