New Delhi:
A tourist guide, accused of raping an American woman along with his accomplices in a five-star hotel in Connaught Place earlier this year, was questioned by police on Thursday after his arrival from Nepal.
Police had identified the man and contacted him while he was in Nepal. He had assured that on his return, he will join the probe even as he denied any involvement in the incident.
He returned on Thursday and was taken from the airport by the investigating team for questioning, sources said. With the tourist guide joining the probe, police are hoping that they will be able to identify the other accused.
A list of possible suspects has been prepared and police are questioning them though none of them has confessed about their involvement in the sexual assault, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the woman is likely to come to India to record her statement and help police in identifying the accused, said a senior police officer. She is currently in the process of arranging funds for her visit and is contacting her law firm here and the US embassy to help her in making arrangements, sources said.
Currently, police doesn't have actionable clues in the matter as the CCTV footage of the time period when the incident took place has been erased.
The hotel had informed police that they store CCTV footage recordings of a particular time period and the recordings of the time frame when the alleged incident have been erased, sources had said.
Police have been mulling the possibility of sending the hard disks and cameras to CFSL or FSL to try and retrieve the erased footage that may give them clues, they added.
The woman had alleged that she was raped by the men for two days. They also threatened her with dire consequences if she reported the matter to anybody. She had also stated that the accused had made a video of the act and had threatened to make it public if she reported the matter to anyone.
