Ganesh, alias Komdi, the 10-year-old boy from whom the police learned about the involvement of four of the accused, was actually introduced to the police by his uncle, who is a repeat offender. Ganesh used to loiter with the five accused at their den inside the Shakti Mills as he used to supply them with food, cigarettes and Gutka. According to the police, Ganesh’s maternal uncle was a repeat offender himself who was arrested for petty crimes such as thefts and pick-pocketing. “As part of our routine, we began rounding up criminals on record and started questioning them about the gangrape. One of them was Ganesh’s maternal uncle. While he was clueless about the crime, when we told him about the spot where the crime took place, he said that his nephew Ganesh might know some of the persons who frequented the spot, as he supplied them with food and cigarettes,” said an officer from Agripada police station. The police then sought some more information on the 10-year-old boy and began locating him. He was finally found near the mill late on Thursday night calling out the names of some of the accused. “We had, in the meanwhile, learnt that Ganesh was spotted with one of the accused, Kasim Bangali. “Upon questioning him, he revealed us the names of four others who were part of Bangali’s gang. Thereafter, we began locating the other four,” added the officer. Using details given by Ganesh, officers from the Agripada police station then picked up Chand, the first arrest in the case, from his house in Dhobi Talao at Saat Rasta. Vijay Jadhav, Siraj Rehman, Kasim Bangali and Salim Ansari were subsequently arrested. The police may also demand an extended custody of the accused, after their custody lapses on August 30.
