Two Accused in Badlapur Rape Case Arrested in Karjat

Mumbai : Police have arrested two accused in the Badlapur rape case last night from Karjat in Raigad district. A police team brought both of them to Thane early Thursday morning and conducted medical examinations. One of the accused, Uday Kotwal, the school president, was hospitalized due to high blood pressure. The other accused, Tushar Apte, the school secretary, is undergoing police questioning after his medical check-up. Thane police will present both in court today.

In August, two students were raped at a school in Badlapur. The police had previously arrested an accused named Akshay Shinde, while Uday Kotwal and Tushar Apte had gone into hiding. Both had applied for anticipatory bail in the Sessions Court and then in the Bombay High Court, but both courts denied their requests for anticipatory bail.

The High Court criticized the state government and police, questioning whether they were waiting for the accused to be granted anticipatory bail. The court stated, "The police were not doing their job well before, and they are still not doing well. In other cases, the police manage to find the accused immediately; why have they not found these accused even after a month in this case?"

Following this, the police arrested both accused on Wednesday night. They were first taken to the ACP office in Ulhasnagar. From there, they were brought to Ulhasnagar Government Central Hospital for medical checks at 1 AM. After that, their medical examinations were conducted late into the night. Uday Kotwal was found to have high blood pressure and was admitted to the hospital under police supervision. Both were charged under the POCSO Act for failing to notify the police in a timely manner.