Mumbai: Mumbai Crime Branch on Friday arrested an auto driver from Vapi, Gujarat, for molesting a 16-year-old girl. The accused has been identified as Gulfam Jahir Khan, 32. Khan fled the city after molesting a intercollege girl. According to the police, the girl, a standard 12 student, was on her way to the college on June 21, around 6.40am. She boarded an auto rickshaw for Santacruz and got down near her college. The girl gave Rs200 note to the driver, Khan. While returning the change, the auto driver molested her and then ran away.
The victim narrated the incident to her family after returning from the college. Her parents approached the Andheri police and registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the auto driver. After the offence was registered, the crime branch started its parallel investigation, According to the crime branch officer, “When the auto driver was escaping, the girl clicked the photograph of the auto rickshaw, which helped us identify the driver,” said an officer.
After the incident, the driver fled the city, crime branch officers checked his residences in Govandi and Bandra, but he had escaped to Uttar Pradesh. On Friday, crime branch arrested him from Vapi, Gujarat, when he was on his way to Mumbai. Khan was arrested and booked for molestation (354), IPC, and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). He has been handed over to Andheri police for further investigation, said police.