Coimbatore: A Mahila Court here allowed Monday the CBI to take one of the three accused arrested recently in connection with the sensational Pollachi sexual assault case into custody for two days. The CBI had filed a petition Friday last in the court seeking the custody of Haron Paul for five days to investigate him to get further details of the case. He was brought from Gobichettipalayam sub-jail and produced Monday before Judge R Nandhindevi.
After hearing the plea, the judge granted two days of custody and asked to produce him January 13, based on which the sleuths took Paul to an undisclosed location for further investigation, police said.
The CBI had arrested three people – Arulalandam, AIADMK student wing secretary, who has since been expelled from the party, Bike Babu and Paul – for their alleged involvement in the sexual harassment case January 6.
Five people – Thirunavukarasu, Sabarirajan, Manivannan, Vasanthakumar, and Sathish – had already been arrested in connection with the case and lodged in Salem jail.
The gang was believed to have sexually harassed and blackmailed a large number of women in Pollachi over a period of time. The issue triggered a public outrage, prompting the Tamil Nadu government to first transfer the case to the CB-CID police and then to the CBI.
