Puri: A day after three youths were held for their alleged involvement in gangraping a 19 year-old girl in front of her male friend at the popular Baliharchandi beach in Odisha's Puri district, police have arrested the fourth and main accused who was on the run. 

Manoj Behera was nabbed from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh while trying to flee. He will be produced in court today. The other accused Siba Sahu had been arrested and court forwarded on Tuesday after medical examination.

As per reports, the survivor - a Plus Three second year student - was sitting in a secluded spot at the beach near Baliharchandi temple on Saturday (September 13) when a group of local youths from Chandiput village clicked their pictures and made videos to blackmail them. They asked for money in return for deleting the photos and snatched Rs 2000 from the boy. When they demanded more and the couple refused, the gang dragged the boy, tied him up to a tree and then took turns to rape the woman in front of him.

When the news about the incident spread, police sent a team to locate the woman. They managed to find her. After initially hesitating to file a formal complaint, the survivor agreed to shared her ordeal and details of the accused. Her statement was recorded and medical examination carried out as per the legal procedure on Monday (September 15). Subsequently, a massive manhunt was carried out and three suspects detained. Later, one of them (Siba Sahu) was arrested. 

The prime accused Manoj alias Kalia Behera was also subsequently arrested from Andhra Pradesh while he was trying to escape. Confirming his arrest, police said he will be cort forwarded today after medical examination. Total two persons have been arrested. The other two youths involved in the crime have been detained and are still being interrogated. They will be arrested if the survivor's recorded statements indicate their complicity," they informed.

The incident is a grim reminder of the shocking Gopalpur case where a a 20 year-old student was gangraped by 10 persons in front of her male friend. It has also once again questioned the safety of tourists, specially women, in popular places across the State.