Men who raped girl are locals: Police

Vadodara: The men who gang-raped a minor girl on Friday night reside in close proximity to the area where the crime occurred. Police investigating the incident said on Sunday that they are certain the five accused are locals and are familiar with the location.
"The narrow road is situated in such a way that outsiders would not have any knowledge of it.The accused are locals and must be living within 2km to 3km of the crime scene. We are yet to obtain definite clues about the accused, but our investigations are ongoing," said Rohan Anand, district superintendent of police (Vadodara Rural).
The minor girl was gang-raped in the newly developing area of Bhayli on the night of Oct 4 when she was with her male friend. The girl informed the police that five men arrived on two motorbikes and began making lewd comments around 11.45pm. When her male friend objected, three of the accused dismounted from the bike. One of them restrained the boy while the other two raped the girl.
The police said that they have obtained some crucial clues about the accused from the scene. "We found a pair of broken sunglasses of cheap quality at the spot, which most likely belonged to one of the accused. Additionally, the girl mentioned that another accused was wearing an earring. Our teams are working tirelessly to track down the accused," Anand told TOI.
Although the location where the rape occurred is very dark and lacks CCTV, police mentioned that they might have obtained crucial clues from the CCTVs installed on the road at some distance. "On other days, only a few vehicles pass through there, making it easier to track the bikers. However, due to Navratri, hundreds of revellers are out on two-wheelers, making it difficult for us to identify the accused through the CCTVs," a police official said.
Police have rounded up about 35 men, who are miscreants, drunkards, or have a criminal background, from the surrounding areas. They will all be paraded in front of the girl and the boy in the next couple of days.