Thane: 21-year-old held for ‘throwing chilli powder’ at girl

Naupada police identified the accused as Mumbra resident Abdul Samad Shakhani, after studying over 50 CCTV footages, sources said.  (Representational Image)

The Thane Police arrested a 21-year-old man from Mumbra on Sunday night for allegedly throwing red chilli powder in the eyes of a 16-year-old girl last month.  Naupada police said the girl was returning home from her dance class in Charai on April 25 when the incident took place. “She was walking alone and probably seemed like an easy target. She told us that the accused had been stalking her for some time,” an officer said.  “When the girl increased her pace, the man ran up to her and threw some substance, later identified as chilli powder, on her face,” he added.

Naupada police identified the accused as Mumbra resident Abdul Samad Shakhani, after studying over 50 CCTV footages, sources said.  “Incidents of throwing substances on young girls’ faces are on the rise. In most cases, the victims don’t complain. Since there was an FIR registered in the case, we decided to find the accused,” a senior officer said.

“We are checking if the accused had done something like this earlier. It is possible that he wanted to steal from her or harm the girl physically. But he could not as she started screaming for help,” an officer said.

“We are investigating and have circulated the man’s pictures among other police stations to find out if he has other cases against him,” he added.

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