The police have announced a cash award of Rs two lakh to anyone giving information about the suspects in the gang-rape of a medical student in Manipal on Thursday. The identity of the informer will be kept a secret.

C H Prathap Reddy, Inspector General of Police (Western Range), told mediapersons on Tuesday that the department was trying to trace the autorickshaw which was used for abducting the medical student in Manipal.

The CCTV footage from  Manipal University could not capture quality images of the auto used in the crime. But their quality was enhanced using advanced technology. There were four enhanced quality images, of which two were captured while the suspects were on their way to committing the crime and the others while they were returning after the crime.

The system timings of the four images had been converted into actual timings, he said. The department had ascertained the make and model of the auto. Two images pertain to the roads in the university campus, while the other two are front views of Hotel Valley View. The released sketch is of the man who dropped the victim back in the autorickshaw and he is a driver, the officer said.

The major impediment in the investigation was the inability of the department officials to directly interact with the victim. “She is reluctant and we are trying to gather details only through doctors who converse with her. She is stable physically. However, psychiatrists are yet to certify her mental condition,” Reddy said.

There was no major development following the release of the sketch of one of the culprits in Karnataka and Kerala, the IGP said. However, the department had got two to three calls from Kerala and the police of that state were working on it, he said.

Seven interrogated

After seeing the sketch, some people from the State had also called up the investigative officers. Six to seven men resembling the sketch were interrogated. But they were not the suspects, the IGP said. Around 30 people were questioned since Monday.

He said around 3,000 autos were pending inspection, out of the 10,000 in the district. Reddy said, “We need the support of the locals and auto drivers”. He said they were probing the case from every angle.

“In the next two days, we will be able to complete the process of inspecting the autos,” the officer said. He said the department had released the sketch of only one suspect. The other two which are circulating in the media were not released by the police, Reddy clarified.

Meanwhile, students have been staging protests across the State condemning the Manipal incident.

In Chikkaballapur, members of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and Janavadi Mahila Sanghatane staged a protest condemning the sexual assault on Tuesday. Even after the New Delhi incident, where a physiotherapy student was gang-raped, the authorities concerned have failed to ensure security to women.