Noida, Jan 8 (IANS) The mood in the Garhi Chowkhandi village is defiant. The families of the 10 young men accused of raping a management student maintained Thursday that their children are being falsely implicated. But the families’ protestations notwithstanding, the police carried out raids to arrest the five men who are on the run after the incident, officials said.

“Our sons were not involved in the rape. They came to the spot when the girl started shouting for help in order to protect her. They thrashed him (Amit Pawar) and did not let the crime happen. If they did this, what was wrong in it?” asked Santosh, the mother of Sanjay Yadav, one of the accused men.

“Our sons are innocent. The police adopted a very harsh method of taking away our children. The police had told us that they would come at 6 a.m. to speak to our sons but they reached late at night about 2 a.m. and picked up our children forcibly,” Balbeeri, the grandmother of another accused, said.

The villagers threatened to force a Noida shutdown if the police and the administration did not stop atrocities on them and their children.

Meanwhile, the police carried out overnight raids in Garhi Chowkhandi village and also at other hideouts on the basis of information provided by those who have been arrested in the case.

The five men who are absconding have been identified as Omkar Yadav, Tuiya Yadav, Shashi Kant Yadav, Golu Yadav and Anil Yadav.

“We are in the process of locating them. Search teams have been sent to various places and we hope to arrest them soon,” Superintendent of Police A.K. Tripathi said.

A team of forensic experts from Agra also visited the crime spot and examined the vehicle and collected samples.

The victim, a management student from south Delhi, had gone with her friend Amit Pawar to the Great Indian Place Mall in Sector 18 market Monday.

According to the police, the girl and her friend in their WagonR car were returning to their homes in Delhi when around 10 men intercepted them. They raped the girl after thrashing Pawar.