20 police teams worked together on leads to ensure that the four adults and one minor accused of raping the photojournalist at Shakti Mills compound were nabbed at the earliest
Mumbai: The combined forces of Mumbai Crime Branch, Agripada police, and Dadar police arrested all the accused involved in the August 22 gang rape within 55 hours of the crime.
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The case was registered on August 22 at 8 pm after a call from Jaslok Hospital reported that a survivor of gang rape had been admitted to the hospital. The police reached the spot, and with the help of the woman’s colleague, got sketches prepared.
A case was registered under several sections of the IPC. Soon, the then Police Commissioner Dr Satyapal Singh, Additional Commissioner Pravin Salunkhe, Deputy Commissioners Satyanarayan Chaudhary and Vinayak Deshmukh arrived at the NM Joshi Marg police station to supervise search operations and investigations.
With pressure mounting from journalists’ associations and women’s groups, 20 police teams were formed. “These teams included officers skilled in investigations, who knew their way around Chinchpokli, and were aware of the preferred hideouts of the accused,” said an officer.
A costly slip
By 11.30 pm on Thursday, the Agripada police were informed of the gang rape, since most of the accused resided in slums in their jurisdiction. “One of the constables, Mujawar, saw the sketches of the accused and realised that one of them, Qasim Shaikh alias Bangali, a resident of Saat Rasta, resembled the sketch.
Qasim had a criminal record and Mujawar knew he spent time at the mill. He called up Qasim and summoned him to the police station. On his guard, Qasim fled and spent the night at Nair Hospital.
The missing link
Around midnight, the Agripada police got confirmation that Qasim had been spotted with a 10-year-old boy named Ganesh. From Ganesh, cops came to know of other four who were present at Shakti Mills at the time of the crime. They found that three of the accused had criminal records. Ganesh gave the cops their names and addresses.
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