Six armed men posed as police personnel and allegedly gangraped three women in Greater Noida’s Rabupura area early on Wednesday morning. The assailants visited the homes of brick kiln workers, tied up the men and ate there before stealing cash, other valuables and six chicken. A case has been registered under Sections 376 D (gangrape) and 395 (dacoity) of the Indian Penal Code, Jewar Circle Officer Dileep Singh told The Indian Express.

The incident took place around 1 am. The men claimed they were policemen and had come for an inquiry. “Initially, they told us they were policemen and had come to check if we had any illicit liquor. When I came out of the house to talk to them, they overpowered me and took my wife out and they then pulled out my neighbours in a similar way,” he said. He added that they were all tied up around 20 metres away from the house while the assailants took turns to rape the women. The rape survivors, all in their 20s, were taken to a hospital in Noida.

Jewar Circle Officer Dileep Singh said, “We have formed teams to nab the assailants. The motive of the crime does not seem to be theft as the assailants ate and stole their chicken. We suspect the involvement of locals.” One of the owners of the brick kiln where the families work said another family was robbed on Tuesday evening and suspected that it was the same group of the assailants. Noida Superintendent of Police (rural) Sujata Singh said, “We will investigate if the same people were involved in both cases. We will also probe why no policemen were patrolling the area even after the first incident.”

Later, members of Rashtriya Kisan Union staged a dharna outside Rabupura police station, demanding arrest of the assailants. “We have given an ultimatum of two days. If police fail to arrest the culprits, we will launch a protest from November 5 again,” Singh told Hindustan Times.