Ranchi, April 20: The city police today arrested three persons, including an auto-rickshaw driver, for attempting to rape a woman journalist on April 16.

The victim, in order to escape, had bitten the fingers of the goons near Kathal More under Sukhdeonagar police station area of the city. The police identified the culprits through the marks.

The trio was identified as Ajay Kumar Gupta (driver), a resident of Laxmi Nagar, Ashok Kumar Rai and Bablu Kumar Gupta, both residents of Kathal More.

All three drove an eight-seater auto-rickshaw.

Senior police superintendent M.S. Bhatia said the three had hatched a conspiracy to target the woman, who was on her way home alone from Kishori Yadav Chowk behind Raj Bhavan.

“The auto driver gave her a seat and said he would charge her only Rs 5 instead of Rs 10, the standard fare in the evenings. The auto driver then picked up his friends, who posed as passengers, on the way to Pandra. The driver then diverted the route from a turning near the State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) on the pretext of a road blockade near Pandra. After diverting the auto-rickshaw, the trio stopped at Kathal More and attempted to rape the victim,” Bhatia said.

The officer in charge of the Sukhdeonagar police station, Brahmadeo Prasad, who played a vital role in nabbing the goons, said the trio would have been successful in their attempt if another auto-rickshaw had not reached the spot on time.

“The woman faced the trio boldly and helped identify them. She had continued to raise an alarm till she managed to escape,” Prasad said producing the trio before Bhatia this evening.

Bhatia said he has planned to introduce an identification system for auto rickshaw drivers. “I will chalk out a plan and introduce a uniform and an identity card system,” he said.