Bhubaneswar: City police on Sunday arrested a garage owner and his employee for allegedly buying a stolen motorcycle that was used by the prime accused in the recent rape of an IT employee in Bhubaneswar.The accused were identified as garage owner Harinarayan Prasad (36) and his employee Nishikant Sahoo (31).According to police, Sreedhar Panda alias Santosh (24), who was arrested on Saturday in connection with the rape case reported on Sept 30, had stolen the motorcycle to facilitate his escape after the crime. He later allegedly sold it to Prasad, who was aware that the bike had been stolen.Police were questioning Prasad and Sahoo to ascertain whether they were aware of Panda’s involvement in the rape. “They knew that Panda stole the bike. To destroy evidence, they completely dismantled it and planned to use the parts separately in other motorcycles. One of the parts was also retained for use in Panda’s motorcycle,” said a senior police officer.Police clarified that Panda alone was involved in the sexual assault, while Prasad and Sahoo allegedly helped him subsequently in destroying evidence linked to the stolen motorcycle.Meanwhile, Panda, who was shot and injured by police during an encounter on Saturday, was formally arrested on Sunday after being discharged from hospital and was later sent to judicial custody.According to police, Panda, who was previously arrested in two theft cases, sneaked into the IT employee’s house on the evening of Sept 30 with the intention of stealing. When she resisted, he allegedly sexually assaulted her.