NEW DELHI: Police investigating the alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj park in south Delhi on Monday evening are trying to establish if the three accused have been involved in similar incidents earlier that have gone unreported.They were clearly looking for a vulnerable target, say police sources, with Asif – armed with a pistol and a condom in pocket – taking the lead in entering the park, followed by the two brothers, Hemant Singh and Mukesh Singh. They then teamed up to unleash 40 minutes of terror on the hapless couple.Police sources said the girl and her friend were sitting on a bench around 7:15 pm when the three men allegedly approached them, posing as policemen in civvies.Having intimidated the two teenagers, they took the boy around 200m away and slapped and threatened him before taking the girl to a secluded, dark stretch of the park. That’s where they took turns to allegedly rape her. The girl was threatened against disclosing the incident to anyone.Call detail records, CCTV footage place three accused near park at time of crimeShe was asked to leave the place immediately. By around 8pm, the men had left the spot, police said. According to the investigators, Hemant and Mukesh went out for dinner after that and returned home later. Asif seemed to be more cautious. Police got an early lead but couldn’t find him either at the Okhla mandi or his house on Monday night.The girl returned to her friend and told him what had happened. The two left the park around 8:45pm. That’s when the boy made a PCR call, which brought the cops to the park. The cops are now trying to establish how Asif had procured the pistol.They claim to have found “objectionable material”, including videos, on Asif’s phone, sources said. Some data was allegedly deleted from the phones of Hemant and Mukesh. These have been sent to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for retrieval.So far, the police have not come across any old complaints against the three. “We are checking whether someone may not have filed a complaint because of threats,” a senior police officer said.The police are pursuing this angle because the three men would often hang around the park in the late hours. Hemant and Mukesh have allegedly changed their statements frequently during questioning. At one point, they claimed they were at home when the incident took place but gave a different account later. Their call detail records and CCTV footage, however, allegedly placed them near the park at the time.Sources said police are also investigating allegations that Hemant was removed from a gym he frequented following complaints of misbehaviour against him. The three have been sent to judicial custody for two days.DDA is facing a lot of flak for not having improved security in the park despite being alerted at least three times by the police since 2025. The police have pointed out that there were no CCTV cameras inside the park.Sources in DDA said their horticulture department had written multiple letters in the past one year to increase patrolling at the park. “Nine security guards are deployed in each shift at strategic locations, along with supervisory and patrolling arrangements. The lighting installations in the Aastha Kunj Park are functional and are inspected regularly. However, installing cameras at each spot won’t be practical,” a DDA official said.Delhi Police commissioner Anurag Kumar, meanwhile, visited Aastha Kunj Park around 8.15pm Tuesday. He patrolled the park with other officers and reviewed security arrangements in and around the premises. He also directed the officers to further strengthen security through increased motorcycle and foot patrols .
