The third suspect in the rape and murder of tourists near Karnataka’s Hampi was arrested from Tamil Nadu, The New Indian Express reported on Monday.

The two other suspects in the matter were arrested on Saturday.

On Thursday night, two women, a 27-year-old woman from Israel and a 29-year-old homestay owner from Koppal district, were allegedly assaulted and raped by three men in the Sanapur village near Hampi.

They were part of a group of five persons consisting of the woman from Israel, the homestay owner, and three male travellers – from the United States, Odisha and Maharashtra.

The male tourist from Odisha was found dead on Saturday.

The case

In her complaint, the homestay owner said that the incident took place around 10.30 pm, when she and her four guests were stargazing after dinner by the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal.

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 travellers, 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 police have registered a case on charges of gang rape, robbery, assault and attempt to murder against the unidentified persons. The police had deployed six teams to search the three suspects.