Fake army officer nabbed for abducting, exploiting girls

Nagpur, Apr 1 (UNI) The police has arrested a man posing as fake army officer, who is alleged to have abducted and sexually exploited several girls.

Speaking to mediapersons here yesterday, Nagpur District (Rural) Superintendent of Police (SP) Yashaswi Yadav said the suspect, identified as Rahul Singh Mehta, a resident of Patiala in Punjab, was nabbed after a girl from Kamptee, about 15 kilometres from here, escaped from his clutches and complained to the police.

The modus operandi used by Mehta, who is physically challenged, was to travel by air-conditioned coaches in trains and chat with young women travellers, Mr Yadav said. Mehta would tell the girls that he was undergoing training at the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Khadakvasla, near Pune in Maharashtra, and that he had lost his legs in a blast while fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, the SP said.

Thus, gaining the sympathy and confidence of the girls, he would and then take their addresses and mobile telephone numbers, Mr Yadav said. The suspect then visited the residence of the girls, abducted them and took them to other cities, where he would exploit them, Mr Yadv added.

A police officer from Kamptee came to know of a similar complaint lodged by a girl in Nagpur when he came to the city last week in connection with another case, Mr Yadav said. Mehta was traced on the basis of the mobile number he had given to the Nagpur girl, to a hotel in the city where he was staying under a fake name and arrested.

UNI