Mumbai, Aug 24

A Mumbai magistrate Saturday remanded Vijay Jadhav, the second accused in the gangrape of a woman photo-journalist to police custody till Aug 30.

The development came hours after a court in Bhoiwada granted police custody of co-accused Chand Babu Sattar Shaikh, 19, alias Mohammed Abdul till Aug 30.

Jadhav, who was nabbed early this morning from the Madanpura area of south Mumbai where he was hiding in a video parlour, was presented before the court amid tight security.

The public prosecutor said in the remand application that Jadhav's custody was required for further investigations in the matter, which the magistrate accepted.

Public prosecutor informed the court that the 22-year-old victim was still undergoing treatment in a hospital and the custody of Jadhav was required to trace the other three co-accused.

Prior to Jadhav, his accomplice Shaikh, 19, was brought inside the court through a back entrance, even as a large number of Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party activists shouted slogans condemning the incident outside the court.

Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh said this afternoon that police have gathered ample evidence against the two accused and would file a comprehensive chargesheet.

Regarding the claim made by Shaikh's family that he was a juvenile aged 16, the police chief said police would reveal details after all the accused were nabbed.

Police sources said that half a dozen teams had fanned out of Mumbai to Thane and Raigad district to trace the absconding trio.

A woman photo-journalist with an English magazine and her colleague had gone on an assignment to the Shakti Mills Compound, Mahalaxmi, late Thursday when they were accosted by the five men.

They tied and assaulted the woman's male colleague and gangraped her in the thick undergrowth in the sprawling mill compound.

While Shaikh was the first to be arrested within 18 hours of the incident, the second accused Jadhav was nabbed early Saturday by police.

By:IANS

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