Balod, Oct 6 (PTI) The acid attack on a 22-year-old woman in Chhattisgarh’s Balod district was allegedly planned by a spurned lover upset after she refused his marriage proposal, police said on Tuesday, citing interrogation of the main accused and his friend arrested a day before.
The woman, preparing for competitive examinations, was injured on Monday after an unidentified man threw acid at her while she was returning home on foot after studying at a library in the Sichai Colony area under Balod police station limits.
Hearing her screams, nearby residents rushed out to help her and informed her father, a policeman. She was rushed to the district hospital in Balod before being shifted to a government hospital in Raipur, police said.
According to police, her condition is stated to be stable and she is undergoing treatment at Raipur-based DKS Hospital.
Balod Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan on Tuesday said the two accused, identified as Yash Kumar Sonkar (20), the alleged lover, and his friend Karan Kunjam (20), were apprehended on Monday evening.
He said Sonkar wanted to marry the woman even though she had rejected his proposal.
“He (Sonkar) also suspected that the woman was talking to another man. Upset over this, he allegedly planned the attack along with Kunjam,” the police officer said when asked about the motive behind the crime.
The accused duo procured the acid from the neighbouring Durg district about a week before the incident and had been planning to target the victim since then, Chavan said.
During the investigation, a team led by Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Vinay Sahu collected evidence from the spot and examined CCTV footage from different locations in the city, another police official said.
Based on technical evidence, police zeroed in on Sonkar, a resident of Kunderupara in Balod town. He initially tried to mislead the police by giving various fabricated accounts, the official said.
Later, Sonkar “admitted” to being in a relationship with the woman and said he became angry after she refused his marriage proposal. He suspected she was having an affair with another person, the official said.
“Sonkar told the police that he and his friend from school days, Kunjam, had planned the acid attack three months ago,” he added.
Sonkar allegedly called Kunjam, a resident of Bhairamgarh in Bijapur district, to Balod on September 26 after his attempts to convince the woman to marry him failed.
“The accused purchased acid on September 27 and planned to carry out the attack during the Ganesh procession, but abandoned the plan due to heavy security arrangements,” the official said.
When the woman was returning home from the library, Kunjam allegedly threw acid at her at Sonkar’s direction, he said.
After the attack, Kunjam fled towards Tandula Dam and later hitched a ride to Jhalmala and Markatola before reaching Charama in Kanker district, the official said.
Following Sonkar’s statement, police launched a search for Kunjam and detained him from Kondagaon district, he said.
Police have seized the acid used in the attack, the official said. PTI Cor TKP NSK
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