In a display of persistent detective work, Mumbai's Nagpada police have successfully arrested a man accused of raping a 16-year-old girl, closing a months-long investigation that began with virtually no clues. The arrest was made in Goa after police pieced together a trail from a single first name.
The Case Begins With a Single Name
The ordeal came to light when Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel in Madhya Pradesh found the distressed teenage girl. She was sent for a medical examination, which confirmed she was pregnant. Following this, a rape case under the stringent Pocso Act was officially registered with the GRP on August 3. The case was subsequently transferred to Mumbai for further investigation.
The investigation team, led by sub-inspector Dnyaneshwar Shendge, faced a daunting task. Their only starting point was the suspect's first name, Sanjay (name changed). They had no photograph, contact number, or address to work with.
Digital Footprint Leads to First Break
The first significant lead emerged during a routine inquiry. A man showed officer Shendge an Instagram account belonging to Sanjay on his phone, which provided a crucial photograph. However, the account had been inactive since April. Police requested help from Meta, the parent company of Instagram, which provided a mobile number linked to the account, but it was switched off.
Undeterred, the police team, which also included officers Ramesh Tonde and Kiran Shelar, scrutinized the Instagram account further. They noticed another number that had liked a couple of the suspect's posts. Posing as the suspect's friend named Faheem, the police contacted this number.
The number belonged to the suspect's brother, Abhay (name changed). Abhay revealed that two to three months prior, he had received a call from Sanjay from a Goa number. However, when police tried this Goa number, they received no response.
The Trail Leads to Goa and an Eventual Arrest
Investigators then traced another mobile number that had been used in both the Mumbai Central area and in Goa. A Bengali-speaking woman answered their call. She informed them that a young man had borrowed her phone to make a call. This youth had told the woman and her partner that he was job hunting, and they had subsequently invited him to accompany them to Goa for work opportunities.
The couple confirmed that the accused, Sanjay, had begun working at a restaurant in Goa and frequently spoke with a fellow waiter named Chandu. By December, police had zeroed in on the location and traveled to Goa.
In a clever ruse, a policeman called Chandu pretending to be Sanjay's friend. Chandu casually mentioned that Sanjay was resting in their room and even sent the location of the restaurant where they worked. Disguised as daily wage labourers, the police team reached the restaurant and arrested the accused shortly after, bringing the meticulous, months-long manhunt to a close.
