Biryani packet helps police nab auto driver who raped minor girl in Vijayawada

Vijayawada: A 35-year-old man was arrested on 28 February for allegedly raping a minor girl. The accused, Annam Venkateswara Rao, is an auto driver, the Nuzividu police said. A biryani packet found near the crime spot helped police track down the man.

An eight-year-old girl was raped by a cyclist and abandoned in the bushes on the roadside near IIIT-Nuzividu in Krishna district on Wednesday night. The girl was waiting for her father near her house on Wednesday at around 9.30 pm when the cyclist lured her saying he would take her to her father. Later, the man took the girl behind the bushes and raped her.

The victim, a Class III student, had some injuries on her body and was crying when a police patrol team found her. The police admitted her to the Government General Hospital in Vijayawada, where her condition is said to be stable.

A senior police officer said their investigation revealed that the accused had purchased a packet of biryani from a restaurant before committing the crime. The accused had purchased a biryani packet from a restaurant to take the parcel home. However, on the way to his home, he noticed the lonely girl and took her to an isolated place on his cycle and raped her. He left the biryani packet at the crime scene. Based on the biryani packet, the police visited the restaurant and examined the CCTV footage at the restaurant and identified the accused, who came to the restaurant on his cycle for the biryani packet. "We identified the accused as A. Venkateswara Rao based on CCTV footage and information from some people," he said.

The police raided Venkateswara Rao's house in the early hours on Friday and arrested him. They also seized his cycle and clothes as evidence.