Kerala police arrested four persons on Thursday in connection with the case where two officials with the Accountant General’s office in Thiruvananthapuram and their families were attacked on Sunday evening. Praveen, Rajesh from Vanchiyoor, Shibu who resides near Medical College junction and Abhijith of Nedumangad were arrested.
Police said that two accused Praveen and Rajesh came on a scooter and harassed the two families. The incident occurred around 8.30 pm on Sunday in the Pettah area, when Ravi Yadav, a senior accountant, and Jaswant, a data entry operator were returning home with their families after an evening walk. Both the officials were attacked with a knife. When they questioned them, Praveen and Rajesh allegedly attempted to manhandle and sexually harass the officer’s wives.The officials are from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, and they had small children — a six-month old and a one-year-old baby — with them when the assault took place.
"That night I formed a team consisting of Assistant Commissioner and Pettah Circle Inspector. The accused tried to leave the district. But the team was vigilant. We cannot allow this to happen to women. We were behind them for the last three days. We will book whoever helped them hide and provided them with a vehicle. There are four accused in the case, the main accused are Praveen and Rajesh," Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner Balram Kumar Upadhyay told media on Thursday.
The officer said that the accused have cases against them in 2015 and 2017. He said that Praveen drove the two-wheeler and it was Rajesh who assaulted the families using a knife. He said that Abhijith and Shibu helped the first two accused escape. The Commissioner said that Abhijith had taken the accused to Kollam district from where the police arrested them.
Ravi Yadav had earlier told the media that one of the accused who came by a scooter tried to molest his wife and stopped the vehicle in front of them on the road. When they questioned them, they took out a knife and attacked them. The officers sustained injuries in their hands.