New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS): Two Bangladeshi nationals, from LGBT community, were allegedly forced to have unnatural sex by five individuals in a park in east Delhi, an officer said on Thursday, adding that they have arrested three men in connection with the incident.

According to the police, on Wednesday at around 1 a.m., a call was received at the police control room regarding rape involving Bangladeshi nationals in Shakar Pur police station.

In response to the call, a police team was dispatched to the scene, and during the initial investigation, it was revealed that 22-year-old individual, Roni (name changed), a resident of Shakarpur and a Bangladeshi national, was living with a 27-year-old individual named Boni (name changed).

"Roni's friend, Joni, came to Delhi from Bangladesh for travel and was residing with them. All of them are from the LGBT community," said the additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (east), Achin Garg.

On Tuesday, Roni and Joni had gone to see a Ram Lila performance at School Block Shakarpur.

At around 11:30 p.m., as they were returning home, Roni encountered his old friend Raj (name changed), whom he had met through a gay dating app.

"Raj" was accompanied by two other individuals. Raj inquired about Roni's willingness, but Roni declined and informed Raj that Joni is also gay.

Both Raj and Joni agreed to pursue a relationship. They all went to a park, where Raj and Joni went to an isolated area, while the other three remained in the park. After few minutes, two more friends of Raj joined them, and all five, including Raj, assaulted Roni and Joni, and forcibly engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with them, said the officer.

Following the incident, Roni and Joni returned to their house and narrated the incident to their friend Boni, who contacted the PCR.

During the investigation, footage from CCTV cameras was reviewed, and information regarding the presence of members of the LGBT community in the area was collected through human intelligence.

“Descriptions of the suspects were obtained from the victims and matched with the information gathered through human intelligence about the LGBT community members residing in the area. After extensive efforts, results were obtained within 12 hours, leading to the apprehension and thorough interrogation of some of the suspects,” said the officer.

“The identities of the accused persons have been established, and out of the five accused, three individuals, namely Devashish Verma (20), Surjeet (21), and Aryan, also known as Golu (20), have been arrested,” the officer added.