A man accused of raping a minor girl in the city zoo here was today arrested along with an accomplice who abetted the crime, police said.
Ramu alias Ram Kumar Singh, a member of the cleaning staff of the zoo and Devender Singh, the zoo keeper were arrested early this morning, they said.
The accused Ramu, had tried to lure the 14-year-old victim, daughter of a woman labourer, into an empty animal cage yesterday. When she showed reluctance, the zoo keeper Devender gave her false assurances of getting fruits inside the cage, as a consequence of which the girl relented.
Once inside the cage, the prime accused raped her, Superintendent of Police (West) Harish Chandra said.
Upon hearing her cries, the victim's mother along with others rushed to the spot. Seeing them approach, the accused fled. As soon as police got to know about the zoo-keeper's role in the incident, police arrested him as well, the SP added.
Based on the statement of the victim's mother along with evidence from forensic probe of the crime scene, police officials filed an FIR against both Ramu and Devender.
The girl has been sent for medical examination.
