Man held for rape, abduction of minor girl

Shivaji Nagar police has detained a 30-year-old man in a two-week old rape and abduction case of three-year-old girl who resides near Dharavi.

The child was found crying by the roadside early on February 16 after she went missing the previous evening. According to officials the girl had to undergo a surgery in a Sion Hospital after the brutal sexual assault on her.

Officials said they received a tip off about a man who was missing from the area just after the incident. The police tried to trace his mobile phone but it was switched off. However, he remained in touch with his family and friends by using almost 20 different SIM cards. Police officials traced each number he used to contact his family and he was finally detained on Saturday morning at CST railway station.

Police officials said, “We made a sketch of him when we took the victim’s statement. After this we started looking for the man and people who are living in the area identified him as a 30-year-old man and showed us his house. In the course of our search we came to know that he fled from Mumbai. If he is not the culprit then why is he running all around the state We have received CCTV footages of the area and it shows a man who looks like him taking away the girl with him. Our investigation is going on.”

Crime branch officials have started parallel investigation into the rape case. They have rounded up a few witnesses and are looking at CCTV footages to locate the culprit.