Car of the gang rape accused in custody of the Mahila police in Bhubaneswar on Friday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 19: A 22-year-old girl was allegedly gang raped by three youths in a forest area on the outskirts of the city on Thursday.

Police have arrested Jitendra Biswal, 28, of Kendrapara and are looking for two of his accomplices. The car in which the girl was taken to the forest area and raped has also been seized.

The victim, who holds a BTech degree and lives in Unit VIII area, had befriended Jitendra Biswal in February through a social networking site.

Biswal, who also holds a BTech degree, works as a director of a city-based institute that offers various courses of a Punjab-based university.

Both of them used to chat on the site and had even exchanged their mobile phone numbers.

Biswal asked the girl to join him on a date on Thursday. When the girl agreed, Biswal arrived in a chauffeur-driven car to pick her up. Both of them had lunch together and went to a mall at Kharavela Nagar in the evening. Later, Biswal called one of his friends to accompany them on a ride.

When Biswal’s friend joined them, he allegedly took out a bottle of liquor and the two forcefully poured the contents into the girl’s mouth.

The girl allegedly threw up in the car as it moved on the Barang-Pitapalli road.

All along the route, Biswal and his friend molested the girl. Later, the two friends and the driver forcibly took her to a nearby jungle and allegedly raped her.

The police said that cops of a patrolling van heard the screams of the victim and went to the spot.

“We found Biswal was standing near the car and the two others were inside the forest with the girl,” said a cop of Chandaka police station.

Biswal had initially threatened the cops claiming to be the son of a senior police official.

During the investigation, it was found that Biswal’s father works with the Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha.

“A case has been registered under various sections of Indian Penal Code,” said an official of Mahila police station.

The police today conducted medical examinations of both the victim and the arrested person. “The accused has said that the driver was from Puri district and a man hunt is on to arrest him and Biswal’s friend,” said an official.