A 19-year-old woman yesterday lodged a complaint of gang rape against two men, one of whom was in "army dress" when the incident took place at an army ground.

The victim, a resident of Chinchwad, alleged in her complaint at the Sangavi police station that she was raped at a deserted ground that belongs to the army near Sudarshan Nagar. In her complaint, the victim said she was with her boyfriend at the ground on Wednesday night when a man in an army dress and another in a vest and trousers approached the couple.

According to police officials, the girl said the accused beat up her boyfriend before raping her by turns. They also allegedly snatched her phone and copied her phone number. "The victim wasn't sure if she wanted to lodge a complaint, so at first she did not come to the police," said a police official on condition of anonymity.

The police official added, "The next day these men allegedly called her again and offered her money to give them more sex and also keep mum about the issue. That's when she decided to lodge a complaint."

The victim and her boyfriend were at the police station when MiD DAY reached it. The victim told the police she would be able recognise the "army" men even from a crowd of 1,000 when she was asked if she would be able to identify them.

MiD DAY also learnt that senior police officers had already managed to establish the identity of the alleged culprits and were in talks with senior officials of the army to be able to proceed with the case.

At 5.10 am, assistant commissioner of police (Zone III ) Vishnu Mane, who was investigating the complaint, reached the Sangavi police station but refused to share any information.

Instead, Mane kept questioning MiD DAY how it had received the information about the complaint
being lodged and whether MiD DAY had interviewed the victim.

PI Bhagwat Sonavne of the Sangavi police station who came with Mane also refused to share any details.

"All I can say is there is a case, but all details will be given by officials concerned tomorrow," he said.

Later, the girl and her boyfriend were taken for a medical examination.