Child rape: Second accused held from Bihar

Patna, April 22 (IANS) The second accused in the five-year-old girl's rape case in Delhi has been arrested from Bihar, police said Monday.

Pradeep, between 20 and 25 years old, and a native of Darbhanga district, was arrested from Badhaiya area of the state's Lakhi Sarai district, Bihar's Director General of Police Abhyanand said Monday morning.

Police sources said that the prime accused in the case, 22-year-old Manoj Kumar, from whose room the girl was recovered days after she went missing April 15, had blamed Pradeep for the brutal attack on the girl.

"Manoj said he met Pradeep in a train. The two were casual labourers who would often meet for a drink," a police official told IANS.

Police said Manoj had admitted that on the day of the incident the two had been drinking, and struck up the idea of finding a girl. When they came out of their room, they saw the five-year-old at her games. Manoj said he lured the girl with chocolate, but blamed Pradeep for the rape.

"We will interrogate Pradeep to learn if what Manoj said is true," the police official said.

Manoj Kumar, the prime accused, was held from the state's Mujaffarpur district Saturday, where he was hiding at the home of his parents-in-law.

He was sent to judicial custody Sunday till May 4, following his two-day interrogation by Delhi Police.

Pradeep was arrested Monday from Lakhi Sarai district, where he was hiding at his maternal uncle's house.

The police are set to present him at a local court for transit remand, the official said.