Both men used to run a tea shop in Phase 2, the police said.
A mobile phone, stolen from a woman who was allegedly gang-raped in Noida in July last year, was key for the police to trace and arrest one of the accused when he switched it on almost six months later on January 2.
According to the police, Jaswant Kumar, along with his brother-in-law Abhay Pratap, had gang-raped a woman in Noida's Phase-2 on July 21, 2022. The two men also stole the woman's mobile phone and purse. Following the incident, the police scoured through 300 CCTV cameras and interrogated some 1,000 workers employed by 150 factories in the area but the two accused managed to give the cops a slip.
The two men kept the mobile phone stolen from the woman switched off fearing police surveillance.
However, almost six months later, Jaswant Kumar switched on the phone which immediately alerted the police who jumped into action and arrested him from Noida Sector-88's Phoolmandi area. Abhay Pratap, the other accused, remains missing.
Both men used to run a tea shop in Phase 2, the police said, adding that a manhunt is on to track down Abhay Pratap.