NEW DELHI – A gang of Indian paramilitary border force, Indo TibetanBorder Force (ITBP) soldiers were arrested by the Chhattisgarh police onWednesday for sexualy assaulting three minor girls who are national leveltable tennis players in Kondagaon town.

The three soldiers Manish Kumar, Nagendra Bhagor and Prabhu Dayal sexualyassaulted the girls when they were returning from a practice session onTuesday evening. The soldiers belong to the 29th battalion of the ITBPwhich is deployed in the Maoist-affected Kondagaon district of Bastarregion.

“On the basis of the complaint lodged by the three minor girls, an FIR waslodged under Section 354 of the IPC and Section 11 and 12 POCSO Act on May22 and the statement of victims has been taken in front of magistrate. OnWednesday the three accused were arrested,” Kondagaon superintendent ofpolice Abhishek Pallav told Hindustan Times on Thursday.

According to the FIR, the three girls, one of whom is a tribal, werereturning from a practice session when the accused constables asked theirphones numbers and also passed derogatory comments. The FIR also says thatthe accused constables tried to force the girls to come with them to thenearby camp. One of the girls then called a relative and when he reachedspot, the constables fled.

The girls then went to the police station and lodged a complaint afterwhich police swung into action and indentified the accused constables.