Cops quiz many for clues in Bengaluru molestation case

Bengaluru: As part of their hunt to trace two men who allegedly molested a young woman on a New Year's Day here, police on Wednesday quizzed many people in the case, said a police officer.

"We have interrogated many... at least 30 people since morning for clues on the culprits and following leads we got during the search operation, which is on," Banaswadi police station inspector Munikrishna told IANS.

The investigation team has also been scanning its video footage a resident of the Kammanahalli area provided to the police on Tuesday.

"We are trying to identify the culprits and the scooter on which they rode into the lane and escaped after committing the crime at that odd hour (02:41 a.m.)," said Munikrishna.

Additional Commissioner of Police (East) Hemant Nimbalkar, who is heading the probe team, told IANS that though many were interrogated, none was detained.

"We are confident of nabbing the culprits soon on the basis of clues and leads we got but cannot disclose them to avoid hampering the ongoing investigation," he said.

The FIR was filed suo moto on Tuesday night against the unidentified men under sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 354A and 354B (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code.

"The victim's neighbour gave us the video in response to our appeal to provide visual evidence of such incidents," City's new Police Commissioner Praveen Sood told reporters earlier.

The footage showed the victim walking in the close residential area towards her rented accommodation and the the scooter-borne duo turning around and one of them walking across to her.

The duo was then seen molesting and dragging her to the two-wheeler, even as she tried to wriggle out, slapping the molester.

"We have formed a special team to investigate the incident and get the culprits at the earliest though the victim has not filed a complaint against them," added Nimbalkar.

The video clip also showed the victim falling on the road after escaping from her attackers even as some onlookers watched "the horror" from a distance.

The victim's neighbour, Francis, had installed a surveillance camera at his house to safeguard his car after it was scratched and damaged.

"The victim and her friend approached me to find out if our camera captured the incident and to identify the accused. As it did, I handed it over to police on Tuesday night," Francis told reporters.

Though the victims did not file a complaint, they told Francis that the horrifying incident occurred when they were returning home in an auto after celebrating the New Year's Day with friends at a pub.

"The victim's friend alighted from the auto first and hurriedly walked into their house. The victim paid the auto fare and was walking to the house when the two drove from behind on the scooter and overtook her," Francis said.

"One of them walked up to her, grabbed her by the neck, hugged and kissed her while his accomplice watched," he said, adding that the victim told her that the accused tried to abduct her.