The Navi Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrested a 30-year-old Turbhe resident in Osmanabad for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl.
The accused, identified as Vijay Rathod, an autorickshaw driver, dragged the victim from his neighbouring chawl in Turbhe to his house on Sunday evening and allegedly raped her. He then switched off his phone, and told his friends that he was going to Pune.
The girl’s mother found her sitting alone outside the house and asked her what was wrong. At this, she broke down and narrated the ordeal. The parents immediately approached the Turbhe MIDC police station and registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Based on what Mr. Rathod had told his friends, the police circulated his photo and alerted Sukapur toll booth in Panvel and another one at the Pune border.
On realising that this lead was a dead end, the police decided to keep a tab on the calls received by his wife and soon found a call from an unknown number between Monday and Tuesday.
Since Mr. Rathod lived on the outskirts of Osmanabad and the number was also from the same district, the police dispatched a team to Umarga in Osmanabad. By the time the police reached Umarga, he had fled to Holi village in Lohara.
“He was caught from a sugarcane field in Lohara. The police team managed to arrest Mr. Rathod within 48 hours. He was produced before a court in Belapur on Wednesday, and remanded in police custody till October 12,” senior police inspector Sachin Rane from Turbhe police station said.
The police are investigating if Mr. Rathod has any previous criminal record.