About 20 armed criminals tied a medical practitioner to a tree and raped his wife and daughter in Bihar’s Gaya district late on Wednesday, police said.

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The youths forcibly stopped the medical practitioner, travelling with his wife and daughter on a motorcycle, near Sondiha village of the district, tied him to a tree after assaulting him, and then took turns to rape took his wife and daughter in a nearby field, police said.

Gaya senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajeev Mishra said 20 youths were detained within two hours of the incident in Konch police station area.

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“The victims have identified two of them as the other criminals had covered their faces while committing the crime,” he said, adding that the accused were being questioned.

Before leaving the scene, the rapists freed the medical practitioner and threatened him with dire consequences if he informed police. The medical practitioner, however, called the police from his cell phone and informed them about the incident. Soon, the SSP and Sherghati sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Manish Kumar reached the spot and arranged for ambulance to send the rape victims to the Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College (ANMMCH), Gaya, about 40 km away, for treatment.

A police team, led by the SSP and the SDPO, later conducted raids at Sondiha and two adjoining villages and took 20 suspects into custody.

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The SSP said two men, identified by the victims, had confessed to involvement in the crime.

Konch police station SHO, Rajeev Ranjan has been suspended for “dereliction of duty”, the SSP said.

An FIR has been registered on the statement of the victims. Senior police officers are still camping in the village and raids are being conducted to arrest the remaining accused, the SSP said.