Couple allege torture, abuse by gang of 11

Bangalore, December 27: A young couple faced a harrowing time for over two hours on Sunday night as an 11-member gang ‘tortured and abused’ them inside a cemetery on Berlie Street in the Ashok Nagar police station limits.

The police managed to arrest some members of the gang and register a case of ‘dacoity’, but the investigation into the incident is still on.

The victim, a BCom student and a resident of Oleff Street, and her friend paid a big price for taking a short cut to reach Wilson Garden.

Residents here use the small stretch (18 feet road) that passes through the cemetery near Berlie Street, Langford Town, Ashok Nagar which connects to Vinaya Nagar, behind BMTC depot in Wilson Garden. Berlie Street falls under Ashok Nagar limits, while Vinaya Nagar is under the jurisdiction of the Wilson Garden police.

Sources said, from 7.40 pm to nearly 9.50 pm, a gang led by Anthony Raj and his associates virtually played havoc with the victims’ life.

She was going on a bike with her friend Yash Raj. An eye witness, who helped the

victims, narrated the horrifying incident to Deccan Herald: “The two were waylaid by four members –– Anthony Raj and three others.

They forced the boy to get down from the bike, snatched the keys, mobile phone and a music player. They tied the boy’s hands with the wire of a cellphone charger and rained blows on him.

The gang demanded Rs 10,000 and took away the girl’s gold ornaments and cell phone. They misbehaved with the couple and even called their friends –– David, Stephen, Nagaraj, Ramesh and others –– to join them.”

The boy’s screams for help went unheard in the dark, deserted lane, till a passerby noticed what was happening and roped in a few others and rushed to the rescue of the couple. The gang immediately fled the spot.

Jurisdictional problem

The shocked boy rushed to the Wilson Garden police station and narrated the incident to the duty officers.

The police acted swiftly and arrested Anthony Raj based on the description provided. A few others were picked up in the next few hours.

The age-old jurisdictional problems continue to haunt police stations.

Vagabonds, drug addicts, gamblers use the cemetery ‘thoroughfare’ as their den and consider it a safe zone for their illegal activities.

For a few years, police had closed the stretch but due to change of guard at both the police stations and lack of communication among officers, the gates were thrown open.

Residents of Berlie Street fume at the locality police for their insensitive attitude and lack of police patrolling.

“Most of the policemen are seen on Brigade Road, in and around malls, wine shops, bar and restaurants, discotheques and pubs. They forget that residents too live in the central parts of Bangalore. They should identify sensitive areas and deploy tight security,” a resident said.

As of now, a dacoity case has been registered since the girl is yet to come out of her traumatic experience.

The police are waiting for the girl to register a complaint, so that the accused can be dealt with under far more stringent provisions of criminal law.