‘Trying to find out if Sakinaka rape accused has a criminal record in his home state UP’: Mumbai Police

Rape accused Mohan Chauhan hailed from Jaunpur in UP, worked as a driver and lived on the pavement in Sakinaka.

Mumbai Police is probing if the 45-year-old Mohan Chauhan, the Sakinaka rape accused, has a criminal record in his home state Uttar Pradesh (UP), Police commissioner Hemant Nagrale told reporters on Monday. Nagrale also said that no offences have been registered against the accused in the state of Maharashtra and hence the search has been extended to his home state.

Police also told reporters that the victim and the accused Mohan Chauhan were known to each other and they share a monetary relationship(Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

“As per Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) we've not found out any offence that is registered against accused so far in Maharashtra. We're trying to find out if he has any criminal record in Uttar Pradesh,” ANI said, quoting Nagrale.

Chauhan hailed from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, worked as a driver and lived on the pavement in the same area. He was arrested for raping and brutalizing a 32-year-old woman in a tempo parked in Mumbai’s Sakinaka on September 10. The victim succumbed to her injuries on September 11 while undergoing treatment at a government hospital. Chauhan was arrested after he was seen exiting the tempo on a nearby CCTV camera. Police said on Monday that Chauhan has confessed to the murder and also revealed that he had gone to his cousin’s house to wash up and change clothes.

Mumbai Police had come under intense scrutiny after the incident, following which Nagrale defended police actions, and insisted that it is impossible for cops to be present everywhere. His comments had invited further backlash and the National Commission of Women (NCW) had accused him of evading responsibility.

Police also told reporters that the victim and Chauhan were known to each other and they share a monetary relationship, but they refused to divulge any more information on the nature of the transactions. Chauhan murdered the victim after a monetary dispute between the two escalated on the night of the crime.