DIG case: Police arrests youth for kidnapping teen
Taloja Police arrested the 20year-old Ankit Singh for kidnapping the teen who accused DIG Nishikant More of sexual assault. Police booked him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. He has been remanded in police custody for 12 days. Primary probe has revealed the duo, who was traced in Dehradun, had planned to settle there and Singh had also secured a job to earn a living.
Police claimed they had been tracing the CCTV footage trail right from the teen’s residence till Dehradun, where the duo was staying. When the teen penned down a suicide note and left her house on January 6, she was joined by Singh, who first took her to Kharghar railway station and boarded a train to Kurla. Probe revealed, from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) at Kurla, the duo boarded a train to Uttar Pradesh and stayed at Allahabad for a few days.
Ashok Dudhe, deputy commissioner of police (Zone 2) said, Singh and the teen had purposely kept their mobile phones switched off and did not contact their family to avoid being traced. “From January 6-12, the duo had not made any contact. However, late on Sunday night, after they reached Dehradun, the teen contacted her father as she was missing the family and informed them about her current location. Immediately a police team was dispatched accompanied by the teen’s father and they were safely brought back home,” Dudhe said.
As the teenager is a minor and Singh had taken from her parents’ custody, he was booked under relevant sections of the IPC and POCSO Act for kidnapping. Police said, Singh, a resident of Kharghar, was also reported missing by his parents, which further confirmed the police’s suspicion of Singh being accompanied by the teen. “During questioning, it was revealed that Singh, who knew the teen since five months, was also an employee at her brother’s garage. Singh knew the teen well and has taken her to Uttar Pradesh in a bid to relieve her from the stress amid ongoing media scrutiny over her allegations on DIG More,” said a police officer.
The teen’s statement was being recorded and police suspect that the suicide letter could have been penned down by Singh, as in the letter, the writer addressed self as a male. However, primary enquiries made have not proved this theory. “Singh had secured a job in Dehradun to support him and the teen, but before he could join his new work place, the teen informed her parents and they were trapped, said police.
Meanwhile, Taloja Police have formed special teams to trace DIG Motor Transport (Pune) Nishikant More, who has been on the run since December 27. “We have sent teams in and out of Maharashtra, to every place More could he, but to no avail,” said DCP Dudhe.
‘DIG More being framed’
Police sources have alleged, the allegations levelled against DIG Nishikant More that he stalked and kidnapped the teen on December 21 were all false and the incident was clearly staged by the teen and her family. Sources alleged, the teen’s mother had made a call to the control room complaining that her daughter was kidnapped while she was standing at an arms distance from her, which was all captured in a series of CCTV cameras near Shilp Society, where More had come to visit a doctor with his wife.