Latur School Founder Arrested For Sexually Harassing Minor Students

Latur: The founder and principal of a private English school in Latur, who had been absconding after a case was registered against him for allegedly sexually harassing minor girl students, has been arrested, police said on Thursday.

The accused has been identified as Bashir Usman Shaikh (54), a resident of Prakash Nagar in Latur and the founder and principal of Adarsh International School, Adarsh Campus, Prakash Nagar.

A case was registered at the MIDC Police Station on Sunday under Sections 74, 76 and 351(2) of the BNS and Sections 8 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Police said Shaikh had gone absconding a day before the case was registered. Given the seriousness of the allegations, Latur Police launched a special operation to trace and arrest him.

Three special teams comprising three police officers and 12 personnel were formed under the guidance of Superintendent of Police Amol Tambe, Additional SP Mangesh Chavan and Latur City Sub-Divisional Police Officer Samirsingh Salve. The teams were headed by MIDC Police Station Inspector Samadhan Chavare.

The teams conducted searches at several places, including Udgir, Omarga, Pune, Panvel and Palghar, while using confidential information and technical analysis to track the accused.

After an intensive search, the police finally traced Shaikh late on Wednesday night and arrested him.

SP Tambe had been personally monitoring the investigation and regularly reviewing efforts to trace the absconding accused, police said.