Pollachi sexual harassment case: CBI conducts searches

Coimbatore: CBI Monday carried out searches in the house of an accused in the case of sexual harassment of women by a gang in nearby Pollachi, police said.

Two officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation, which has taken over the probe from Tamil Nadu CB-CID police recently, conducted the searches at the house of Sabarirajan, among the five people arrested in the case.

They also questioned the accused's parents, who were in the house during the search, police said.

A 19-year old woman student in February lodged a complaint with the police that a gang of four men had allegedly tried to strip her inside a car, shot a video of the act and blackmailed her using the visuals.

The gang was believed to have sexually harassed and blackmailed a large number of women in Pollachi over a period of time.

The issue triggered a public outrage, prompting the Tamil Nadu government to first transfer the case to the CB-CID police and later to the CBI.

The case assumed political overtones after a local functionary of the ruling AIADMK allegedly attacked the victim's brother for lodging the complaint. He was expelled from the party later.

Five people had been arrested so far in the case. CBI had last week carried out raids in premises of key accused Thirunavukkarasu.