NEW DELHI: A man who had been evading arrest in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) case registered in southwest Delhi last month was apprehended after a team from the Delhi Police stationed themselves at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border for ten consecutive days.
Senior officers stated that this was the only option left to capture the culprit, who had been eluding arrest for the past 20 days.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Rohit Meena provided details of the case. A complaint was lodged at the Delhi Cantt police station on August 24. The complainant alleged that on August 23, at approximately 8:30 pm, she was walking towards Gopinath Market with her mother and two daughters.
"Her daughters were 100-150 meters ahead of her. A car started following them continuously for almost 15 minutes. The complainant became fearful and warned her daughters to be cautious. The matter was also reported through a post made on 'X'," said the DCP.
A case was registered under the relevant sections of the BNS and POCSO Act, and an investigation was launched. A team was formed to analyse CCTV footage of the alleged car, which covered more than 115 km from Delhi Cantt to Pari Chowk and then back to Delhi. However, the complete footage trail could not be traced beyond Pari Chowk due to a lack of CCTV coverage in Uttar Pradesh.
"During the investigation, the registered number of the car was obtained, which was found to be in the name of Tinku, son of Dharampal, a resident of Jewar, UP. He himself was wanted in an attempt to murder case in UP and had been absconding for the past six months," the DCP explained.
The only lead in the case came from the analysis of Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras. This revealed that the registered car frequently entered Delhi from the Chilla check post of the UP-Delhi border and then departed after some time.
In response, a team was stationed at the border for ten consecutive days, ultimately leading to the capture of the 24-year-old accused, Rajat Raj.