Bhagalpur police have launched a manhunt for five persons accused of raping two nuns after the latter recorded their statements before a local court on Tuesday evening.

The two nuns of a hermitage at Rampur village in the Shivnarayanpur area of Bhagalpur district, around 280km east of Patna, have accused six persons of raping them on August 26.

On Tuesday, the two victims recorded their statements before the court of B.K. Roy, the first class judicial magistrate, Bhagalpur, regarding the alleged incident and gave details about the accused.

Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) K.S. Anupam on Wednesday said: “After the nuns recorded their statements before the court, the suspense has cleared for the time being.”

Ratan Paswan, one of the six accused, has been arrested so far.

“The police have launched a massive search operation to arrest the other accused. We are waiting for the medical report of the victims,” the officer added.

The residents of Rampur alleged that the incident occurred because of a dispute among disciples over the property of the hermitage. The villagers also requested Shivnarayanpur police to send back the two nuns to their village in Katihar district. The nuns have, however, refused to leave the hermitage.

Sources said the victims have taken shelter at Shivnarayanpur police station. The villagers also alleged that some innocent people have been falsely implicated in the case.

“Two of them are Ghanshyam Mandal, 67, a resident of Rampur village, and his son. They are innocent. Pankaj is scheduled to join the Indian Army. How can an elderly man rape somebody along with his son?” asked Anadi Mandal, a villager.

The authorities of the hermitage at Kuppaghat in Bhagalpur city have denied the incident at their Ram-pur unit.

An official associated with the hermitage told The Telegraph that ashrams set up by disciples of the main organisation often get mired with such controversies.