Bangalore/Hyderabad: The man to whom the assailant of the woman bank officer had allegedly sold her mobile phone was picked up by police in Hindupur town in Andhra Pradesh and was being questioned today for leads.
Two days after the 38-year-old officer with Corporation Bank was attacked with a machete inside an unguarded ATM kiosk in Bangalore, the Karnataka police chief said the assailant has been identified and efforts are on to catch him.
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"The man has been identified by CCTV photo. We are making efforts to arrest the person," Karnataka Director General of Police (DGP) Lalrokhuma Pachuau told reporters in Delhi.
The Bangalore police picked up the man who was sold the phone from Hindupur last night and were further interrogating him with regard to the assailant after they recovered the mobile phone from him, according to a senior police official in Anantpur. The phone was snatched from the woman by the lone attacker.
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"He (man picked up by Bangalore police) is not the real accused. The assailant had sold the mobile phone to him belonging to the victim and hence the police were further questioning him," the official said, amid reports he was taken to Bangalore.
Bangalore police have formed squads to nab the assailant and are in touch with their counterparts in neighbouring states also to crack the case.
The police have announced Rs one lakh cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the assailant.
"We have announced Rs one lakh cash award for information leading to the arrest of the suspect," Joint Commissioner of Police B. K. Singh told PTI in Bangalore, as the assailant is on the run after the brazen attack, caught on CCTV footage, sparked public outrage.
An official of BGS Global Hospital, where the victim is recovering after being paralysed on her right side, meanwhile said, "She is recuperating, but will take some more time to fully recover."
The woman's skull was fractured in the attack and a small piece of bone had gone into the brain, causing a "penetrating injury" and she was paralysed on her right side, according to doctors.
"We are closely monitoring her condition. She is able to speak," the hospital official said.
