Rajasthan rape accused arrested

IANS/Kannur, Kerala

Police in Kerala have confirmed the arrest of the son of a former top police officer, convicted for raping a German national in 2006 in Rajasthan and then jumping parole.

N Shankar Reddy, additional director general of police, said the Rajasthan police will have to confirm through finger printing that the arrested person is Bitty Mohanty.

“As far as the Kerala Police is concerned we have arrested him for impersonation because his real identity was concealed. We expect the arrival of the Rajasthan Police any time,” Reddy said.

According to Rahul R Nair, the Kannur district superintendent of police, Mohanty was picked up by the police and was questioned based on a complaint from the head office of State Bank of Travancore (SBT), who requested the police to confirm his identity.

He baffled the police by showing his passport and an electoral identity card with the name Raghava Rajan.

Mohanty, for the past seven months, has been working as a probationary officer with the SBT and early this week, the bank officials, based on an anonymous letter, approached the police to find out the real identity of Raghava Rajan.

The police have done the customary medical check up on Mohanty and will produce him before a court here for his remanded. Mohanty is the son of a former top police officer from Odisha. He was convicted, along with a friend, of raping a German tourist in Rajasthan.

The trial was completed quickly and Mohanty was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on rape charges. In November 2006, he was released on parole to meet his ailing mother. Since then, his whereabouts are unknown.