Woman molested in running bus in Odisha, 2 held

In a daring incident, a middle aged woman was allegedly molested and attempts were made to kidnap her while she was travelling in a bus from here to Bhubaneswar.
The incident took place this morning at Gopalpur on National Highway-5 when the 34-year-old woman was on her way to the state capital to inquire about the fate of her FIR at the Mahila Police Station there. She had lodged complaint against two youths who allegedly assaulted her at the official residence of an MLA a couple of days back.
Trouble began when three persons identified as Prafulla, Alekha and Manoj stopped the bus, in which she was travelling, at Gopalpur on NH-5 and barged into it. The trio then allegedly molested her in the bus and dragged her out of the vehicle. When they forcibly took her out of the bus and tried to put her in a van, she raised an alarm. The local people gathered and caught hold of two youths, police said.

Police arrested Prafulla Sahu (35) and Alekha Palei (40), both of them belonging to Gopalpur village in the district while another accused, identified as Manoj Samal (37) of Mathasdahi-Ratalanga village, involved in the crime, managed to flee.
The victim, hailed from Mathasahi-Ratalanga village in the district.
"We have arrested two persons on the basis of the FIR filed against them by the victim. Another accused is still at large. We will arrest the third accused soon and seize the vehicle used in the crime," said Kumar Nayak, officer-in-charge of Kuakhia police station.
The accused were forwarded to the local court today and later remanded to judicial custody after their bail pleas were rejected.