Mumbai: PUBG addiction lands man, 24, who eloped with minor girl in cop net

An individual's addiction to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, a fight-for-survival mobile game popularly known as PUBG, was a crucial input for Manikpur police in Vasai to solve a missing-cum-kidnapping case of a minor girl, who eloped with her partner on Valentine's Day.

They eloped on February 14 from Vasai, reached Chandigarh and the cops began their crackdown on the man 41 days of the incident. A team had to camp in Chandigarh for six days to make the operation successful as the boyfriend learned some evasion tricks by watching crime shows on television, said the police.

Sources told mid-day that the boyfriend would always remain glued to his cell phone to play PUBG with his friends. "People call him ‘chhapri' in his locality," said a local source.

After dating for a few weeks, the boyfriend is accused of eloping with 17-year-old girl. They boarded a local train from Vasai Road

"The 24-year-old had switched off his cell phone, made his social media accounts dormant, and snapped all contacts with his friends and relatives to avoid being traced. He thought that he wouldn't be traced, but we didn't give up," an officer said, adding that the teenage girl had planned to "stay with him forever".

According to the officer, the girl's family knew who she had eloped with as she would often visit an aunt who lived nearby to speak with him. "Above all, after she went missing on Valentine's Day and when her family inquired about the man, they learnt that he was also not at home and that his cell phone was switched off."

The family approached the police and a complaint was registered on February 15, but the investigation was not moving ahead. So, the cops roped in cyber experts who tried to penetrate the social media accounts of the accused. "His brother was aware of his gaming addiction and also knew that he had a gaming partner based in Chandigarh. So, without contacting his friend in Chandigarh, our team retrieved his Call Data Records (CDRs)," said an officer privy to the investigation.

Meanwhile, cops scanned the CDR of boyfriend's friend and learnt about a new number in the list which he frequently started to get connected with from February 20

Meanwhile, the cyber experts provided the cops with some crucial leads from the PUBG account of the absconding accused. "After matching the CDR and the PUBG details, we learnt that the accused had been contacting his friend in Chandigarh using a new number. This new number didn't appear anywhere in his friend's CDR before February 14," said the officer.

The police then used Subscriber's Data Records (SDR) to confirm that the accused was in Chandigarh. Subsequently, a team from Manikpur police station was dispatched to Chandigarh and the accused was nabbed. "We have also rescued the minor girl and handed her over to her relatives on Friday," the officer said. The accused will be produced before the Vasai court today.

After retrieving SDR details of the new number, the camped in Chandigarh for six days, nabbed the boyfriend and rescued the minor girl. Illustrations/Uday Mohite

Raju Mane, senior inspector, Manikpur police station, said, "We arrested the accused from Chandigarh after our officers camped there for nearly six days. He had been living at his friend's house. We have added a section of rape and charges under the POCSO Act to the existing FIR." Another officer told mid-day that the accused had been doing odd jobs for his survival in Chandigarh. After rescuing the girl, the cops sent her for a thorough medical examination to ascertain if she was pregnant.