By IANS
Agra : Three persons have been arrested for raping two Japanese tourists and holding them hostage for three days in this city of the Taj, police officials said Monday.
The three arrested were identified as Rais, son of Riazuddin, Rajan Thakur, son of Laxmi Singh, and Sunny, son of Mohan Singh Chauhan.
A dozen persons were detained Sunday night for interrogation and by Monday afternoon all the three accused were in police custody.
Senior Superintendent of Police Navin Arora and Deputy Inspector General of Police Kamal Saxena told mediapersons Monday evening that the hotel where the two Japanese women were confined and raped for three days and two shops selling artificial jewellery have been sealed and the entire area was being screened for undesirable elements.
The two Japanese women, who lodged a complaint at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) police station Saturday night after managing to flee from their captors in Agra, said they were befriended by the three men who were then identified as Sunny, Rajan Singh and Alif.
The trio invited them to a secluded place, where they were held hostage for three days till Saturday and repeatedly raped, said a Delhi Police officer.
While the women flew back home early Sunday, the Delhi Police transferred the case to the Agra police for investigation.
Sunny, according to police, is fluent in the Japanese language, having married a Japanese girl earlier.
The police said the two tourists were terrorised and subjected to repeated sexual assaults by the trio for three days.
The three first talked sweet and played good hosts to the visitors, who arrived here Tuesday, transferred them to a cheaper hotel, and befriended them before committing the crime, police sources said.
The three accused denied before the media that they had any role in the gang rape, but admitted to having body-massaged the two women. The police, however, claimed they admitted their crime before the police.
Saxena indicated that five new police posts will be opened at the Fort, Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, Sikandra and Etmauddaula to help the tourists.
This is the fourth incident involving Japanese tourists in the last one year in Agra.
In September 2006, a Japanese student was abducted and there is still no trace of him. His mother has visited Agra to pressure the police to search for him but to no avail.
Another Japanese tourist was reported missing but was found drunk after 36 hours.
And last month, one Japanese tourist became the victim of poisoning.
Tourism industry sources in Agra said the Japanese tourists were victims of a gang of ‘lapkas’ (illegal guides, holding no valid licence or certificate). A few of these had even married Japanese girls.
“They are fluent in Japanese, that helps them to build an instant rapport,” said a hotelier in Taj Ganj area.
“This kind of lawlessness should not be allowed in this sensitive industry,” said an official of the Hotels and Restaurant Association.