The Santacruz Police have arrested a 20-year-old man after an intensive 10-day search in connection with a POCSO case where a minor girl was molested near Vile Parle.
According to police, the incident took place on September 16, around 9:20 pm, when the 10th-standard victim, a student of was returning home after buying household items in Vile Parle. An unidentified man approached her from behind, blindfolded her eyes with his hands, touched her inappropriately on the chest, and fled the spot.
The girl narrated the incident to her mother, who immediately informed her father. The family then approached Santacruz Police Station, and an FIR was registered under relevant sections of the BNS and the POCSO Act, 2023.
A special detection team led by API Tushar Sawant and Sanjay Kalhatkar launched a parallel investigation. CCTV footage from the area was scanned, and the accused’s movements were tracked. Clear images of the suspect were obtained, and intelligence revealed that he frequently visited Nehru Nagar in the Juhu police station limits.
Acting on this lead, police maintained surveillance at his regular haunts with the help of local informants. On September 26, the accused, identified as Pappu Jagil Nayak (20), a labourer, resident of Vile Parle (W) and native of Ganjam district, Odisha, was apprehended from Nehru Nagar, Juhu. During interrogation, he confessed to committing the crime and was formally arrested.
Police said Nayak has been booked under the Santacruz Police Station and remanded to custody. The investigation is ongoing under the guidance of senior officers, including Additional Commissioner Paramjit Singh Dahiya, DCP Dikshit Gedam (Zone IX), ACP Maruti Pandit, and Senior PI Yogesh Shinde.
The detection team comprised officers Nitin Keni, Abhishek Karle, Srinivas Chila, Maruti Gawde, Narendra Hiremath, Manoj Patil, Prasad Yadav, Tejesh Mane, and Ananda Diwanji, with special assistance from API Abhishek Patil of Juhu Police Station.
