A man with a string of rape and murder cases against him was recently released from jail for good behaviour, only to abduct, rape and murder a nine-year-old girl in Maharashtra’s Shirdi town.
Sunil Bharat Jadhav, alias Pappu Suresh Salve, was arrested Friday after two weeks on the run, Ahmednagar SP RD Shinde said.
Salve allegedly raped and killed the girl and dumped her body near Shirdi railway station on December 28. He had walked out of Nashik central prison — where he was serving a 10-year sentence for the rape and attempted murder of another minor girl in 2002 — just a few months ago.
Salve, who led the police to the body, was produced in a local court on Saturday and remanded in police custody till January 17.
“We are matching DNA samples taken from the accused to bolster evidence against him. The post-mortem report is awaited,” Shinde said.
The police plan to write to DGP (Maharashtra) Sanjeev Dayal and the home ministry requesting fast-track trial in the case.
Sources said the Nashik police, too, would file an appeal in Supreme Court against Salve in another case of rape and murder in which he was given the death sentence by a sessions court but acquitted by the Bombay high court for lack of evidence.
{{/usCountry}}Sources said the Nashik police, too, would file an appeal in Supreme Court against Salve in another case of rape and murder in which he was given the death sentence by a sessions court but acquitted by the Bombay high court for lack of evidence.
{{/usCountry}}Apart from these cases, Salve is also said to be connected to the abduction and murder of a six-year-old girl in Nashik.