The Gadchiroli police have arrested the bus driver, conductor, cleaner and an additional driver of the luxury bus in which a senior BJP leader was travelling with an unmarried girl. He allegedly raped her in the moving bus.
The police said that the bus workers were arrested for uploading the video on social media. They were identified as: the bus driver SarangdharRamteke, 30, conductor Rakesh Khobragade, 20, the additional bus driver MachhindraSahare, 29, and the cleaner AnkushRandive, who switched on the CCTV camera installed in the bus and later uploaded the video on his mobile phone, and circulated it on social media.
The incident came to light when the video, showing BJP leader RavindraBawanthade forcing himself on a young woman went viral. Bawanthade, who is the general secretary of Gadchiroli unit of BJP, had gone underground after the video surfaced. He was later arrested from Bramhapuri in the neighboring Chandrapur district on Tuesday morning.
Both Bawanthade, 50, and the woman, 20, were travelling from Nagpur to Nagbhid in an ARB Travels bus on June 27. The footage from the CCTV installed in the bus shows the leader kissing and forcing himself upon her in the presence of other passengers.
The victim in her complaint alleged that Bawanthade had promised to help her get a job and marry her. Bawanthade is already married and is a school teacher. The girl is an ex-student of Bawantahde.He is still in police custody for further interrogation.
