Mira-Bhayandar: The central crime branch unit attached to the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police have arrested a 22-year-old youth who allegedly raped a minor girl whom he befriended on social media platform Facebook. The accused who has been identified as Aditya Bhagat not only sexually exploited the girl but also circulated her lewd images on the platform of another social networking and video sharing application after she stopped communicating with him.
Accused booked under POCSO
Bhagat and the victim were in contact on Facebook from June 2022 to November 2, 2023. An offence under the relevant sections of the IPC, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Information Technology Act was registered at the Achole police station against the accused on November 3.
Police lay trap to catch Bhagat
However, the accused had remained untraceable and continued to change his locations to dodge the police after committing the crime. On the virtue of a tip-off provided by informants, supported by a robust electronic surveillance system, a team led by PSI Hitendra Vichare laid a trap and arrested the accused from near a church in the coastal area of Uttan on Saturday. The accused is a resident of Bhayandar.
Apart from scanning his social media accounts, the investigating team is verifying the background of the accused to ascertain if he was involved in other similar crimes.
