MIDC police nabs molester who targeted minor girl in lift

Mumbai: The MIDC police has nabbed a 38-year-old security guard for allegedly molesting a minor girl in her society lift, which he had stopped for a few minutes to commit the crime. A resident of Andheri, the accused had fled to Silvassa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli after the incident, where he was tracked down on Saturday by a police team that was on his trail on the basis of informants’ clue and CCTV footage acquired from the site of the crime.

When the police gathered details on the accused’s background, he turned out to be a history-sheeter. The accused was remanded to police custody by a city court till Wednesday. The molestation occurred on November 11. The accused, who worked as a security guard in Daman, had come home last month to celebrate Diwali when he targeted the 11-year-old girl.

“The accused come home during his Diwali vacation in November and was loitering on the streets on November 11, when he saw the girl at a grocery shop. He waited for her to finish shopping and then followed her on her way back home,” said a police source. “He followed the girl to her building and entered the building’s lift along with her. Apart from him and the girl, there was nobody else in the lift,” the source said. “He did not let the lift move for around two minutes and molested the girl. He then fled from the spot,” the source said.

The girl, who was in a state of shock, ran to her home to narrate her ordeal to her parents. The parents approached the police to complain against the then unidentified molester. The police identified the culprit with the help of CCTV footage acquired from the building compound and informants.

MIDC police’s police inspector (crime) Kedar Pawar, whose team arrested the accused, said, “We procured footage from a CCTV unit that was installed in the building’s society. The footage showed the accused following the girl into the lift and coming out minutes later.” He said, “After analysing the footage, we activated our informants and technical surveillance. We found out that he works as a security guard outside the city and eventually tracked him down at his hideout in Silvassa and brought him back to the city.”

The accused was once convicted in a robbery case and has cases pertaining to crimes, including theft, registered against him in at least four police stations - MIDC, Aarey, Bhandup and Mulund police stations. The accused was arrested on molestation charges under relevant sections in Indian Penal Code and The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences.