Deepak Vishwakarma, manager of Jungle Inn resort, accused of allegedly drugging and raping a South Korean woman on a tour to Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve on January 14, was on Saturday remanded to two days in police custody by a court in Umaria district. 

Vishwakarma, 32, was produced before the additional district judge (ADJ) P C Verma, where he retracted his earlier confession to the police. He denied that he was with the Korean woman on January 14, and claimed that they went on safari together on January 15. 

However, the court remanded him to police custody after victim 'identified' him during the test identification parade (TIP) - a criminal procedure in which the alleged offender is brought before witnesses and victims for identification. He will be produced before the court on February 4. 

The 23-year-old woman filed a complaint at Aurangabad, Maharashtra, that she was raped by a waiter of a hotel in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve on January 14. Monu Yadav, who works as a waiter at the resort, told reporters that a foreigner woman did stay there on January 14, and as hotel's senior staff members were standing in the courtyard along with the woman, they had asked him to bring six beer bottles. Around 10 pm he was asked to go and sleep by the "Sir" as he had to get up early in the morning for his duties.He said he was not aware what had happened after that. According to the victim, she asked the waiter at resort to serve her beer in her room, who laced her drink with some sedatives and raped her when she became unconscious as per PTI & TOI reports.

On January 29, her bag was stolen from Aurangabad Railway Station area. She then narrated the Bandhavgarh incident to a tourist guide, who suggested that she go to the police. Aurangabad Assistant Commissioner of Police Naresh Meghrajani said the woman would be sent to MP for further probe.

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