The police has arrested three men from the powerloom town of Bhiwandi in the district for allegedly raping two minor sisters, an official said on Wednesday. The girls, aged 14 and 17 and residing in the Jaitunpura locality, had some months back befriended five men living in the same area, inspector D M Katke said.

The men later took the girls to different places in the area where they allegedly raped them in the last two months, he said. On February 9, the Bhiwandi town police, based on the complaint of the girls, registered offences against the five people and arrested three of them, the official said.

The accused, in their 20s, were booked under relevant IPC sections for rape and kidnapping and also provisions of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said. The arrested men were remanded in police custody till February 16, the police said, adding that a search was on for the other two accused.

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