Over 100 hotels, hookah bars searched in Varanasi; 14 arrested in gang-rape incident: Police

Varanasi (UP): Varanasi police on Wednesday conducted searches at more than 100 hotels and hookah bars, questioned several suspects and arrested 14 people in the wake of a recent gang-rape case, officials said.

A 19-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped by 23 individuals over six days between March 29 and April 4. According to the police, the accused individuals drugged the woman and moved her between multiple hotels in the city during this period. Her family filed a police complaint on April 6.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is an MP from Varanasi, also took cognisance of the incident and directed the officials to take the strictest possible action in the case.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Gaurav Banswal said preliminary investigations into the case have revealed that illegal activities including sex trade and drug use were taking place in several hotels.

"In response to these findings, police carried out searches at over 100 hotels and hookah bars on Wednesday. Those found without identification, including minors and unmarried couples, were questioned. Strict action will be taken against hookah bars found facilitating drug use," Banswal said.

He said raids will continue at hotels and spa centres to deter any such incidents in the future.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vidush Saxena said the police have so far arrested 14 people in connection with the gang rape of the young woman in the Lalpur-Pandeypur area.

An FIR was registered in this regard on April 6 under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including sections 70(1) (gang rape), 74 (assault or use of criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 123 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc with intent to commit an offence), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 127(2) (wrongful confinement) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation), the police said.

Additional Commissioner of Police, Cantonment, Vidush Saxena earlier said that the woman had gone out with some youths on March 29. Her family filed a missing report on April 4 when she did not return home.

When the police rescued her, she did not mention about the rape, he said.

However, the survivor's family on April 6 lodged a complaint alleging that she had been gang-raped.

The woman told the police that between March 29 and April 4, the accused allegedly took her to many hotels and hookah bars and gang-raped her, the officer said.

The named accused were identified as Raj Vishwakarma, Sameer, Ayush, Sohail, Danish, Anmol, Sajid, Zahir, Imran, Jaib, Aman and Raj Khan, the police said.

Soon after he landed at the airport here on April 11, Prime Minister Modi directed senior officials to take the "strictest possible action" in the alleged gang-rape of the woman.

The woman's mother said she wanted to meet the prime minister and tell him about her daughter's trauma.

Modi, who arrived in Varanasi on April 11 morning to inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of several development projects, was briefed about the case by the police commissioner, the divisional commissioner and the district magistrate at the airport, according to a statement issued by the Uttar Pradesh government.

"He instructed them to take the strictest possible action against the culprits and to implement appropriate measures to prevent such incidents in the future," the statement said.