Serial rapist, wanted in 13 cases, arrested by Navi Mumbai police

Mumbai: A man wanted in connection with 13 cases of rape and molestation of minor girls in Mumbai and neighbouring areas has been arrested, police said Thursday.

Rehan Qureshi, a salesman, was nabbed Wednesday by the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch from Mira Road area in the adjoining Thane district after he was identified through a CCTV footage following two incidents of crime, a police official said. 

The man, in his 30s, was accused in 13 cases of rape and molestation of minor girls in the slum areas of Mumbai, the neighbouring Navi Mumbai town, and Thane and Palghar districts, he said. 

While investigating these cases, the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch identified him through the CCTV footage of cameras at Mira Road railway station and also in Navi Mumbai, after he allegedly sexually abused two girls, aged 13 and 15, at Nallasopara in Palghar, he said. 

On getting information about Qureshi's whereabouts, the Navi Mumbai police laid a trap at Nayanagar in Mira Road area and nabbed him, the official said. 

The modus operandi of the accused was to approach a girl at her house by telling that her father had called her, he said. When the victim accompanied him believing his claims, the accused would take her to an isolated place and commit the offence, the official said. 

"As of now, we have found his involvement in at least 13 cases of sexual assault of minors. We suspect his involvement in other cases also," Navi Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Tushar Doshi said. 

A probe was on in all the cases, he added.