The Borivali police arrested an autorickshaw driver on Friday, a day after he was booked for allegedly flashing at a woman journalist.
The victim, who heads an online portal, had posted on social media that the alleged act took place while she was travelling in the accused’s autorickshaw from Malad to Borivali on August 22. The journalist said the driver masturbated in front of her and six other witnesses. However, none of them came forward to help her.
Confusion over number
The accused, identified as Rajbahadur Pal, was arrested from Bhim Nagar in Borivali. The police said that the journalist had noted down the licence plate number of the autorickshaw after the incident.
However, when the police tracked the number, it led them to a car. The complainant had inadvertently noted down the wrong licence plate number.
The police then tried various permutations and combinations of the number. When they interchanged the letters ‘AU’ to ‘UA’, they were able to trace the autorickshaw.
Sangramsinh Nishandar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone XI), said, “The licence plate number belonged to an autorickshaw owned by a resident of Uttar Pradesh. He told us that he had rented it out to a driver staying in Borivali. We then sent six teams to the accused’s house in Bhim Nagar and nabbed him.”
Mr. Pal has been booked for sexual harassment and outraging a woman’s modesty under the Indian Penal Code and will be produced in court on Saturday.
