Gandhinagar, April 20: Three persons, including the main perpetrator, involved in the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in Surat have been arrested, the Gujarat government said on Friday.
Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja told the media here that Gujarat Police arrested the key perpetrator from a village in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan, who will be brought to Gujarat.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that Surat Police had arrested three persons in the case. All accused are believed to be originally from Rajasthan.
Police had found the body of the girl with over 86 injuries dumped in the bushes near Jeeav Road in Pandesara area of Surat on April 6. An autopsy revealed that she was brutally raped and tortured for days before her murder.
A case of rape was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The Minister said that over 400 personnel of Surat police and Ahmedabad Crime Branch worked on the case.
Police analysed the mobile data and CCTV footage from a 3-km radius of the spot from where the body was found. The case was finally cracked after police zeroed in on CCTV footage of a black car moving suspiciously in the area.
Earlier, police suspected that the girl hailed from either Odisha, West Bengal or Jharkhand. An Andhra Pradesh man had come forward to claim the girl was his daughter. Surat police even carried out a DNA test to verify his claim.
"On April 9, a woman's decomposed body was found lying a few km from the spot where the girl was found dead. We believe she is the girl's mother. We will carry out a DNA test," Jadeja said.
"We will appoint a special public prosecutor to pursue the case in a fast-track court," Jadeja said.
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Cold grips Delhi, minimum temperature settles around 3 degrees
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi woke up to intense cold conditions on Monday as the minimum temperature dipped to around 3 degrees Celsius at several weather stations across the city, making it the coldest January day since 2023.
On January 16, 2023, the minimum temperature had plunged to 1.4 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
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Station-wise data recorded at 8.30 am showed the Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's principal weather station, registered a minimum temperature of 3.2 degrees Celsius, which was 4.2 notches below normal.
Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 3.3 degrees Celsius, while Lodhi Road logged 3 degrees Celsius.
Ridge recorded a minimum of 4.2 degrees Celsius and Ayanagar reported 3.2 degrees Celsius, the IMD data showed.
The IMD said the maximum temperature in the national capital is expected to touch 19 degrees Celsius.
It said cold wave conditions are likely to persist over the national capital over the next two days.
Delhi's air quality, meanwhile, remained poor.
According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the city's overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 298 in the 'poor' category.
Around 20 monitoring stations recorded 'very poor' air quality, while the remaining stations were in the 'poor' category. Nehru Nagar recorded the worst air quality with an AQI of 344.
According to the CPCB classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor', and 401 to 500 'severe'.
