Three yrs on, man who raped minor in Navi Mumbai arrested in Bengaluru

35-year-old man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in Navi Mumbai arrested after 3 years on the run. Fled neighborhood after the crime, caught in Bengaluru.

Navi Mumbai: Nearly three years after being on the run, a 35-year-old man, accused of raping a 12-year-old girl, was arrested on Thursday by the team of Unit I, Navi Mumbai Crime Branch. The incident occurred in September 2021, when a minor girl from the Rabale MIDC area, was raped by her neighbour.

The incident occurred in September 2021, when a minor girl from the Rabale MIDC area was sexually assaulted. (Representative Image)

The accused, who used the fake name Dhananjay Lalchand Saroj, raped the minor when her parents and her elder sister were out for work during the day. Fearing that his act would be exposed in front of them, he then fled the neighbourhood, according to police. The same evening, when her parents returned home, the minor told them about the sexual abuse. Subsequently, a case of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was lodged with Rabale MIDC police and the investigations started. “The police back then visited the accused’s hometown and found that no man with such a name lived there,” assistant commissioner of police (Crime Branch) Ajay Landge said.

During the course of the investigation, the police traced the accused’s mobile phone to Bengaluru, however, he kept his phone switched off. With the help of the call record data and documents submitted to get the connection, the police found that the real name of the accused was Ananjay Lalchand Paswan alias Ganu.