Ten men including the son of a local BJP leader were arrested on Friday for allegedly raping two sisters in Chhattisgarh's Raipur district, police said.

The incident took place on Thursday night near Bhansoj village when the sisters, accompanied by a man, were returning after celebrating Rakshabandhan festival, said Raipur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prashant Agrawal.

The survivors, aged 19 years and 16 years, lodged a complaint at Mandir Hasaud police station around 1 am on Friday, following which the police swung into action and nabbed the accused, he said.

The survivors were returning to Raipur from Tumgaon village with a male friend on a motorcycle when three of the accused intercepted them near Bhansoj.

The trio allegedly robbed them of cash and mobile phones. The other seven accused reached the spot on four motorcycles in the meantime, as per the complaint.

The accused took the two sisters to an isolated place away from the main road and allegedly raped them.They also thrashed the man accompanying them, the SSP said.

“Multiple police teams were constituted, and as per the description of the accused provided by the victims and other information, all ten accused were identified and arrested by morning,” Agrawal said.

The accused were booked under sections 376 D (gang rape), 376 DA (gang rape on woman under sixteen years of age) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the official said, adding that further investigation was underway.

“Of the arrested men, Poonam Thakur, who is a habitual offender, is the main accused in the case. Five cases were registered against him at Mandir Hasaud and Arang police stations in the past. He was arrested in 2019 and 2022 on the charges of murder and rape, respectively. He had got bail only last month,” the SSP said.

According to police, Thakur's father Laxminarayan Singh Thakur is a local BJP functionary based in Mandir Hasaud.

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