Panaji, June 6 (IANS): Two women from Delhi who were gang raped in a Goa resort were working as escorts and were accidental victims of a revenge plot, a senior police official said on Saturday.

The duo were allegedly abducted by a group of five men and one woman on June 1, and later gang raped in a coastal resort.

Speaking to reporters at the North Goa District headquarters superintendent of police Umesh Gaonkar said one of the five accused, Ajay Kushwa, had an axe to grind and money to recover from a pimp operating in Goa, known as Manoj, who is still missing.

The two escorts were abducted by the group and later raped by four people while they were being held for ransom, the official added.

"The complaint of gang rape and assault has been confirmed and verified. The girls were escorts who had been hired by the main accused Ajay Kushwa from Manoj, who owed him around Rs. 1.5 lakh," Gaonkar said.

He also said that the two women were later raped by four other accomplices of Kushwa in the hotel room while the latter was "sleeping".

Five people, including Kushwa, have been arrested in connection with the gang rape, while three others, including a woman, are missing, Gaonkar said.