Absconding rapist arrested in UP after 10 months

Mumbai: The Thane (rural) police have nabbed an accused wanted in the rape of a minor girl in the coastal village of Uttan near Bhayandar, 10 months after the crime, as he was absconding. Acting on specific information received by its network of informers, they apprehended him from a remote village in Uttar Pradesh. According to the police, the accused, a 23 year-old local biryani vendor, had lured the victim to a secluded place near his shop in Uttan, and raped her in November 2016.

In an age, when the police banks on technology and innovative applications like call detail records, IP address trackers, mobile surveillance, IMEI numbers, data dump, social networking and CCTV footage to resolve crimes, the case was a challenging one for PSI Jagdish Bangar and his team, comprising of Amol Salunkhe and Kiran Thakur, who did not have even a photograph of the accused or his mobile number to bank upon technology to track his whereabouts.

PSI Bangar then turned to informers, who used to be the most trusted source for the cops, to gather inputs about absconding criminals. Based on information sourced out by human intelligence, the police team learnt that the accused was holed up in a remote village near Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh. Armed just with his name, Bangar and his team camped in the village for five days and finally managed to nab him with the help of their Uttar Pradesh counterparts.

The accused, who was found working in an ice factory in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested and brought to the city on Saturday. “Our informers network played a crucial role in hunting down the accused. He has been booked under section 376 of the IPC and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012,” said Bangar.