Surat rape case: Head constable's son one of the accused

Surat: Bowing to public pressure, Surat Police Commissioner Shivanand Jha on Sunday transferred Kutubuddin Saiyad, a head constable, and the father of gang-rape accused Tarik Saiyad.

According to police sources, a strong public opinion had been building up that the fathers of two of the rape accused-Shahid Saiyed and Tariq Saiyed-may try to influence the course of investigation and weaken the case against their sons.

The police commissioner is understood to have taken the decision to transfer Kutubuddin to Dangs district so that he could not influence the investigations.

A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped in a moving car on the morning of June 12. The police later arrested Shahid, Tarik and Abubakar, identified by the girl and her friend as the perpetrators of the crime.

The victim, a Class XII student, was dragged into a car by the three youths in the Mathura Gate area, while she was on way to attend a tuition class.