Police arrest accused who had fled with handcuffs, chair

mid-day had reported on November 22 on how the accused had escaped from the interrogation room when the cop on duty went out to call his colleague.

Within 36 hours, the Samta Nagar police have managed to nab the accused who had fled from their custody despite being handcuffed and tied up to a chair.

mid-day had reported on November 22 (‘Handcuffed to chair, accused escapes with it') on how the 25-year-old accused, Siraj Ramzan Shaikh, had escaped within hours of being brought in on Friday morning.

The accused had somehow managed to get out of the police station and flee while tied up to the chair. Though the handcuffs have been recovered, the chair has been not, the police said.

According to the Samta Nagar police, the accused Shaikh was nabbed from Ghodbunder area of neighbouring Thane district on Sunday late night after a tip-off.

Fresh FIR
A fresh FIR will now be registered against Shaikh for escaping from the custody of the police under relevant sections of the IPC. The accused was earlier arrested for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 17-year-old minor girl and booked under sections 363, 376 and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). The accused had kidnapped the minor on the false pretext of marriage.

For about 45 days the police had been searching for Shaikh in the rape case after which they nabbed him from Vasai on November 20. The minor was found with him and was safely sent back to her parents.

On November 21, the cops were supposed to produce Shaikh in a magistrate's court. But around 5 am he fled from the police station. Later, he broke the chair on which he was seated and cut the handcuffs with a cutter. Shaikh spent the night at Malwani and Marve, and then fled to Vasai. Suspecting the police could trace him there, Shaikh fled to Ghodbunder from where he was picked up.