By: Anil Jadhav AMRAVATI: A day after the 47-member special investigation team (SIT) was formed in the sensational Amravati sexual abuse case, the police on Thursday arrested four more suspects as the digital trail of viral sex videos brought more people under the radar. Of the eight in custody, main accused Ayaan Ahmed, 19, was the one who lured women and recorded the sexual acts, while others were in possession of these videos and made them viral.Amravati (rural) SP Vishal Anand said Ayaan took his victims to various locations to sexually abuse and shoot the acts. “A flat in Amravati city was the epicentre of the crime. The victims were also taken to a hill station resort in Chikhaldara, and to cafes in different towns,” said Anand.
While mobile phones of the accused have been seized, house searches led to recovery of a laptop, a hard disk and a tablet. “All electronic devices have been sent to the forensic science laboratory, where data extraction will happen,” said Anand.Also read: ‘Became playboy after 1st breakup’: Mastermind teen Ayaan Ahmed casual confession stuns cops in Amaravati sex abuse caseDenying a communal angle to the case, Anand confirmed all eight survivors identified so far are Muslims. But whether all, or some, are minors has not been established. “We need to confirm their age at the time of crime. Despite police reaching out to them through women officers, none of the survivors or their family members has yet filed a formal complaint,” said Anand.The SIT has been split to tackle different aspects of the case. Some are tracing more accused, some focusing on technical analysis of digital devices while others are verifying whether an organized criminal nexus was behind the exploitation.The police officer slammed the social media chatter which pegged the number of victims to almost 200, saying only eight have been identified till now. “There is no attempt to suppress the number of victims or help the accused. That’s why I am addressing the media every day to ensure transparency,” said Anand.Six personnel from Paratwada police station have been shifted to the control room and an inquiry launched against them after some organizations alleged they could influence the investigation. Some frontal organizations said these cops were not keen on hearing them out, when the videos first went viral.Anand said senior police officials at the state-level are being regularly briefed about the investigation. Key accused Ayaan has been booked under Section 294 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Sections 8 and 12 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, and Sections 67 and 67(A) of Information Technology Act.
