CBI arrests 3 in Pollachi sexual harassment case, sent to judicial custody till Jan 20 (Ld)

Chennai, Jan 6 (IANS) In a major development in the Pollachi sexual harassment case in Tamil Nadu, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three persons, allegedly involved in the crime. They have been sent to judicial custody till January 20 by a competent court. A CBI source told IANS, “The three arrested accused have been identified as P. Babu, Haronimus Paul and K Arulanatham.”They were produced before a competent court. The court sent them to judicial custody till January 20, the agency source said.In April last year, the CBI had registered two cases and started investigation in the case in which a college girl alleged that two of her friends along with their two other associates sexually assaulted her and clicked a video, threatening to upload it on the internet.The first FIR in the case is based on the sexual harassment and snatching of gold chain reported in Coimbatore district on February 12. The second FIR is related to the assault on the victim’s brother on February 26.The victim on February 24 last year complained to Tamil Nadu Police that Thirunavukarasu, Sabarirajan, Satheesh and Vasanthakumar forcibly removed clothes from her upper body in a car and clicked a video, the CBI FIR said. As per the FIR, the victim alleged that they also snatched her gold chain and forced her to make physical relations with them, and also threatened her with uploading the video on the internet. The second FIR is based on the statement of the victim’s brother, who had complained to the Tamil Nadu Police that Senthil, Babu, Mani and Vasanthakumar on February 26 last year, two days after his sister lodged a complaint, assaulted him when he was going on a two-wheeler near his house in Pollachi.The agency registered the FIRs in April last year under various charges, including sexual harassment, assault or use of criminal force on woman, sections related to the IT Act and criminal intimidation.In the two first FIRs, the CBI named eight persons identified as Sabarirajan, Thirunavukarasu, Satheesh, Vasanthakumar, Senthil, Babu, Mani and Vasanthakumar. Earlier, Tamil Nadu Police registered two separate cases — one on February 24 and other on February 26 last year. The CBI took over the cases on the direction of the Centre following a request from the Tamil Nadu government.–IANSaks/ash