4,000 suspects scrutinised, 220 questioned to arrest molester

The suspect, identified as Neetu Lal, had allegedly robbed the girl at knifepoint, tore off her clothes and molested her before a fightback by the girl forced him to flee.

A scrutiny of 4,000 men released recently from jail, analysis of dossiers of 140 criminals, footage from 160 CCTV cameras and interrogation of 220 suspects led the police to arrest a man who had molested and robbed a 17-year-old girl in a forested area near a prominent hotel in Chanakyapuri neighbourhood late last month, the police said Tuesday.

The police have recovered much of the stolen items, the knife allegedly used in the crime and the girl’s clothes from the crime spot. (FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY)

The suspect, identified as Neetu Lal, had allegedly robbed the girl at knifepoint, tore off her clothes and molested her before a fightback by the girl forced him to flee.

The girl had been living with her aunt in Bihar and her parents live in Old Delhi. “She did not want to stay with her aunt and had escaped from that home with her belongings and documents. She had caught a train and reached New Delhi railway station on December 24,” said a senior police officer, not authorised to speak to the media.

As she waited at the New Delhi railway station to catch a train to Old Delhi railway station, Lal allegedly approached her and offered her help to board a local bus that would take her home quicker than a train.

The girl agreed, but the man made her alight from the bus at Sardar Patel Marg bus stop near Taj Hotel in Chanakyapuri, said the officer. “Thereafter, he led the girl to the forested area nearby where he robbed her of her bag at knifepoint, tore off her clothes and molested her,” the officer said.

The girl, however, fought back. “She picked up stones and threw them at Lal and began screaming for help. That forced Lal to take her belongings and flee,” the officer said.

Eish Singhal, deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi), said after escaping from Lal, the girl contacted the police upon which a case of robbery, molestation, kidnapping and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered.

“We formed four teams to find the suspect. The teams pursued over 4,000 potential suspects even as the survivor helped with a sketch of the assailant. The breakthrough came in the form of CCTV footage that showed the suspect getting off the bus with the girl,” the DCP said.

Thereafter, the police showed the CCTV footage to hundreds of people along the route the suspect had taken.

“We finally found a street vendor near the crime spot. He said he had seen the suspect around that area in the past. We asked him to alert us the next time he was seen around. On Saturday, the vendor alerted us and we caught the suspect,” the other officer said.

Lal is unemployed and hails from Dholpur in Rajasthan. While there are no previous criminal cases against him, the police are probing if he had targeted others the way he did the girl.

The police have recovered much of the stolen items, the knife allegedly used in the crime and the girl’s clothes from the crime spot.