Jajpur: Three persons were arrested by Jajpur Town police on Tuesday for their alleged involvement in the rape of a minor hockey trainee in Jajpur district. The arrested have been identified as Sandip Swain (26), Sarthak Mohanty (23) and Sagar Nayak (26). While Swain is a coach at Jajpur hockey stadium, Mohanty and Nayak are former hockey coaches at Jajpur and presently working at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, police said.

Police have released Siddharth Rout, another hockey coach who was detained along with three others, as he was not involved in the crime. The incident came to light on Monday after the 15-year-old girl filed a complaint at Jajpur Town police station alleging that her coach and his two associates abducted her when she was returning home on July 3 evening and raped her in a lodge at Jajpur town.

Acting on the complaint, police immediately detained four persons. “We have arrested one hockey coach and two former coaches of Jajpur hockey stadium. While one of them has raped the minor girl, the two others assisted him in the crime,” said Prasant Kumar Majhi, Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Jajpur Town police station.

The girl had been undergoing training at Jajpur hockey stadium in the district headquarters town for the past two years. On July 3 evening, when the girl was going home, her present coach and two former coaches allegedly abducted her and took her to a lodge and sexually assaulted her there, the complainant said.

The accused also reportedly threatened to kill the girl if she revealed the incident to anyone, stated the complaint. Based on the complaint, police registered a case under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 6 (rape) and 8 (sexual harassment) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The medical examination of the victim and the accused were conducted on Monday and the survivor’s statement has been recorded before the district court. The accused were forwarded to court on Tuesday and remanded in judicial custody after their bail pleas were rejected,police said.