RPF constable arrested for rape attempt

Tiruchirapalli, Sep 11 (UNI) A Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable was arrested here today for allegedly attempting to rape two girls, police said.

S Sarvanan (41), an RPF constable, posing as a Sub-Inspector, took the two girls, A Mahalakshmi (21) and Divya (20), residents of Tiruvotriyur near Chennai, to a desolated place here last night and reportedly attempted to rape them, police added.

The two girls, hailing from poor families, had come to Viralimalai near here to work in a bus coach building unit a month back. However, they decided to leave the place, after they found the job unsuitable.

Last night, they left Viralimalai and reached the Central Bus Stand here at around midnight. Since they were running short of money, the girls telephoned a co-worker, Ilango, who resided at Viralimalai and asked for money. Ilango reached here and gave the money at around 0100 hrs.

When the girls were waiting to board a Chennai bus, Saravanan, in civilian clothes, came on a motorcycle with a sticker saying 'Police'. Posing as a Sub-Inspector, he approached Ilango, who was standing beside the girls, and enquired about the three.

Threatening that he would book cases against the three, he ordered Ilango to come to the Cantonment police station and directed both the girls to sit on the pillion of his bike and rode away.

When Ilango reached the Cantonment police station, he was questioned by a cop. After Ilango described Saravanan to the cop, the latter found the description did not match any Sub-Inspectors in the city here and alrerted the policemen in the outpost at the bus stand to look for Saravanan.

As the cops were enquiring the shopkeepers at the bus stand about Saravanan, at around 0300 hrs, the RPF constable himself came there with the two girls. The policemen nabbed Saravanan, who was about to escape, after dropping the two girls there. The girls then narrated the whole incident.

Based on a complaint by Mahalakshmi, the Cantonment police registered a case against Saravanan and remanded him to judicial custody. The girls were then sent to a care home and their parents informed, police said.

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