Paravoor sex scam: Girl identifies eight accused

KOCHI: In a major development in the Paravoor sex case, the 14-year-old girl on Friday identified the eight accused who were arrested by the Crime Branch probe team.The girl recognised the accused in an identification parade held at the Aluva Sub-Jail, where the accused have been remanded in judicial custody.The accused identified by the girl were Manikandan, the Tamil Nadu-based contractor, Thomas Varghese, the local CPM leader, Unnikrishnan, Vijayakumar, Manoj Gopi, Murukesan, Noby and Swaraj.The identification parade was held under the supervision of G Rajesh, a judge at the Perumbavoor Magistrate Court. The accused were arrested by the Crime Branch team in the earlier stages of investigation.Meanwhile, the Crime Branch team arrested three persons and a woman in connection with the case on Friday.The arrested were Magudiswaran,32, of Palani, Swamidasan,61, of Palakkad, Rajashekaran Nair, 40, of North Paravoor, Shebin Francis, 28, of Elamakkara and Julie of Ernakulam.While Magudiswaran was a Palani-based businessman, Swamidasan was a government employee and Rajashekaran Nair was a retired naval officer.The sexual abuse of the 14-year-old girl came to light three months ago after her mother lodged a complaint before the police submitting that her husband had forcibly taken the daughter to prostitution.The Crime Branch has so far arrested nearly 60 persons in connection with the case.