Police crack Amby Valley rape case

The Pune rural police on Friday arrested a security guard, Dharmendra Kumar Rambhau Chaudhari (22), in the sensational rape of a 29-year-old executive from a multinational company (MNC) at Sahara’s Amby Valley resort in Lonavla on December 10. The arrest was made after the victim identified the suspect’s voice sample.

The police had called the victim from Delhi to identify the voice samples of four security guards which were collected on Thursday. “As soon as the victim heard Chaudhari’s voice, she broke down and identified his voice immediately,” said superintendent of police Pratap Dighavkar.

Chaudhari, a resident of Navlaga Chaudhari in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, was working at the resort for two years.

“We zeroed in on Chaudhari as the sketch prepared by police matched 70% with him. Moreover, he was initially reluctant to give his voice sample,” senior police inspector of local crime branch Bhausaheb Andhalkar told DNA.

“When our police team was collecting voice samples of security guards at the resort on December 24 last year, Chaudhari complained of uneasiness. His colleague provided him with water in a glass bottle. He broke the bottle and stabbed himself in the stomach,” recalled Andhalkar.

He was immediately taken to a hospital and given eight stitches. The police filed a case of attempted suicide against Chaudhari at the Paud police station and arrested him after he was discharged from the hospital. He was later released on bail.

“The incident strengthened our suspicion that he could be involved in the rape. On December 10, he had skipped the 3 am tea that is served to security guards in the night shift. The rape took place between 12.30 am and 3 am,” the police said.

The victim was part of a 270-member group, including 30 women, which had participated in the pan-India conference of a food conglomerate at Amby Valley resort on December 9.

According to the victim’s statement, she had returned to her room at midnight. She was alone and forgot to lock the room. Between 2.30 am and 3 am, a man entered the room, switched off the lights and raped her at knife point. She had lodged a complaint with the Paud police on December 12.

A police team has been sent to Chaudhari’s hometown to check his past record. Police sub inspector Jitendra Kadam is the investigating officer.