Auto driver held for kidnapping, raping passenger

RAJKOT: An autorickshaw driver drove a lover couple unfamiliar with the city to a desolate place where the man was beaten up and the woman raped repeatedly. The driver and his accomplice were arrested on Monday.
According to the police, a North Indian couple living at Hudco society in Rajkot came near Hudco chowki as they were planning to go outside on Sunday evening.They hired an autorikshaw driven by Imran Sidi of Housing Board quarters on Kalawad Road. Sanjay Ratanshi of Laxminagar area was accompanying him. When they learnt that the youngsters were unmarried, they drove them to a deserted place near Aji dam, where the woman was raped after the man was beaten up.
They were threatened and forced back into the autorikshaw. This time, they were taken to Willingdon dam in Junagadh, where the woman was raped again. Around noon they started for Rajkot. When Imran got down to go to a pan shop at Gandhi chowk, the victim raised an alarm. Locals phoned the local crime branch, providing the autorikshaw number and the direction it went. The criminals were caught near Chittakhana chowk.
Imran is a criminal from Junagadh and shifted to Rajkot three months ago.