Mumbai: Rape and murder accused flees police custody

Daswant after his arrest in Mumbai on Wednesday.

A 23-year-old engineer, who was arrested in Mumbai for allegedly murdering his mother, fled from police custody from a hotel near the domestic airport on Thursday.

Daswant was out on bail since September for his alleged role in the rape and murder of a child in Chennai in February.

The Chennai Police, who arrested Daswant, had been staying at Hotel Satellite in Vile Parle East and were to fly out from the airport on Thursday night. Daswant managed to escape while eating lunch with them at 4.30 pm.

“The accused was eating with the police when he got up and ran out of the hotel. The police were taken by surprise as they did not expect him to flee,” said Laxman Chavan, senior inspector, Vile Parle police station.

Daswant was caught in Mumbai on Wednesday three days after his mother was found dead and he was reported missing. Special police teams were formed for a massive search for him. Two of the four special police teams went to Mumbai, apparently on a tip-off that Daswant was interested in horse-racing. He was nabbed from a race course club in Central Mumbai on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, the police released a photo of him along with a five-member police team credited for arresting him.

A mechanical engineer, Daswant was out on bail since September for allegedly raping and murdering a girl and then burning the body in his Chennai apartment in February.

As the social media was abuzz following reports of Daswant’s escape, a senior official said he would be captured soon. “There will be good news before Friday morning,” he said. — With inputs from Mumbai