Two women, a 27-year-old woman from Israel and a 29-year-old homestay owner from Karnataka’s Koppal district, were allegedly assaulted and raped by three men late on Thursday night near Hampi, The News Minute reported. A male tourist from Odisha who was part of the group was found dead on Saturday.

They were part of a group of five persons consisting of a woman from Israel, a resident who owned a homestay in the area, and three male travelers – from the United States, Odisha and Maharashtra.

In her complaint, the homestay owner said that the incident occurred around 10.30 pm, when she and her four guests were stargazing after dinner by the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal in the Sanapur village, The Hindu reported.

She alleged that three men arrived on a motorcycle and asked where they could get petrol. Later, one of them demanded Rs 100 from the tourists, and when they refused, he began arguing and attacking them. The altercation led to the three male tourists being assaulted and pushed into the canal, after which the women were sexually assaulted.

The three unidentified perpetrators, who spoke Kannada and Telugu, then fled the crime scene on their bike with two mobile phones and Rs 9,500 in cash from the travelers, the complaint further alleged, according to The Indian Express.

Two days after the alleged incident, search teams recovered the body of 26-year-old Bibash who hailed from Odisha, while the other two men 23-year-old Daniel and 42-year-old Pankaj managed to swim ashore.

“The attackers were physically very aggressive despite the group outnumbering them,”, Koppal Superintendent of Police Ram L Arasiddi said. “We suspect a local gang’s involvement, and efforts are underway to track them down.”

The police have registered a case on charges of gang rape, robbery, assault and attempt to murder at the Gangavathi Rural police station against the unidentified perpetrators.

The police have launched six search teams to track down the three suspects.