Bhubaneswar, May 2: Three youths were arrested yesterday for kidnapping a girl, taking and circulating her nude photographs and then threatening to kill her.

The youths were sent to jail after the court rejected their bail pleas. Police also seized one motorcycle and three mobile phones from them.

The accused were identified as Syed Ali (23) from Delhi, Subhrajit Sethi (22), a student of a city-based engineering college, and Benudhar Chhotaray (27), who hailed from a village on the outskirts of the city.

The Mahila police booked the accused under sections 363 (kidnapping), 367 (kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt), 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 342 (for wrongful confinement), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation), 292(a) (printing of grossly indecent or scurrilous matter or matter intended for blackmail) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 6 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.

According to the police, Syed Ali and the girl — who is studying engineering at a private college in the city — had known each other for sometime. Ali, who hailed from the city, was studying animation in Delhi. On Friday, he called the girl to Khandagiri and forcibly took her to the botanical garden in Nandankanan with the help of the two other accused.

“They tied the hands of the girl and took her nude photos while also trying to outrage her modesty. The girl somehow managed to escape and informed his brother who, in turn, informed the police,” said a police officer.

According to sources in the Mahila police station, four teams of police, including two teams of Mahila police and a special squad, raided several places to arrest the accused persons.

While Syed Ali was the first to be arrested, two others were later picked up from Ruchika Market in Baramunda.

Benudhar had demanded Rs 50,000 from the girl to return her nude photos. “The police tapped the phones of the youths and traced them to Ruchika Market. Then four police teams simultaneously raided several places and arrested them. They were trying to escape on a motorcycle,” the police officer said.

Sources said that Benudhar, who was earlier working as a supervisor in private hostels, was jobless and was harassing young boys and girls coming to botanical garden.

“He had also taken nude photos of girls who were coming to the garden with their boyfriends by threatening them. But no one in the past had dared to speak against them,” said a source in the police.