The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three more persons including a student wing leader of the AIADMK in the sensational Pollachi sexual assault case.
The CBI team arrested K. Arulanantham (34) of Vadugapalayam, who was the AIADMK Pollachi town students’ wing secretary, Haron Paul (29) of Achipatty and P. Babu alias ‘Bike’ Babu (27) late on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam and co-coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami issued a statement expelling Arulanantham from the party.
The three accused were produced before the Mahila Court in Coimbatore around 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday and Judge R. Nandhinidevi remanded them in judicial custody till January 20.
K. Thirunavukkarasu (28), N. Rishwanth alias Sabarirajan (26), M. Sathish (30), T. Vasanthakumar (25) and R. Manivannan (31), all hailing from Pollachi, are the other accused in the case.
The case pertains to the alleged sexual assault by the accused of a 19-year-old girl near Pollachi on February 12, 2019. The investigation found that the accused also allegedly filmed the act and blackmailed the girl.
Following the arrest of Thirunavukkarasu, Rishwanth, Sathish and Vasanthakumar by the local police after the incident, a few video clips of unknown men sexually assaulting girls were leaked. It was alleged that the accused subjected several women to sexual assault and and filmed the act. The investigation was handed over to the CB-CID which named Manivannan as the fifth accused.
The CBI took over the investigation in April 2019 and filed a chargesheet against the five accused in May 2019.
In December 2020, the CBI obtained the court’s permission to collect voice samples of the accused and subject them to a forensic analysis. This was to ascertain whether the voices of men heard in the leaked videos were that of the accused.
