The Navi Mumbai Police on Wednesday said their probe has revealed that the allegations of stalking and kidnapping levelled by the father of a teenage girl from Taloja against Nishikant More, Deputy Inspector General (Motor Transport), Pune, are baseless.
At a press conference, Ashok Dudhe, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II), said the complaint against Mr. More was filed by the victim’s family on December 21 to frame him. He said, “After analysing the CCTV footage and the call detail record, it has been established that the victim was not kidnapped and her family members made up the incident.”
The police said at 9.06 p.m. on December 21, the 17-year-old victim made a call to the police control room claiming that she had been kidnapped by Mr. More. Later, a video of the victim’s father pleading with Mr. More’s driver to reveal her whereabouts went viral. The family claimed that Mr. More had been stalking their daughter and had now kidnapped her.
However, the investigation revealed that the family found Mr. More’s car parked outside a building at Kharghar Shilp Chowk at 8 p.m., where he and his wife were meeting a doctor. The call records showed the victim’s brother and his friend, Ankit Singh, planned the kidnapping. CCTV footage confirmed the victim, her brother, parents, Mr. Singh and other two friends were at the location. When the girl called the police control room, she is seen standing next to her mother in the footage.
After speaking to the police, she is seen making two calls to her father, who then catches hold of Mr. More’s driver seated in the car parked outside the building. The police said they might book the family for obstructing a public servant from performing duty and providing false information to the police.
On Tuesday, the Taloja police brought the missing teen from Dehradun along with Mr. Singh, who was arrested on Wednesday under Section 363 of the (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 8 (sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. According to the police, they have found photographic evidence which fits into Section 8 of POCSO.
Victim went ‘missing’
The victim had accused Mr. More of molesting her on June 5, 2019, during her birthday party at her house. On January 6, she went missing after leaving a suicide note behind. Mr. Singh later confirmed that he and the victim first boarded a train from Kharghar to Kurla and then took a train to Allahabad, where they stayed with his relative. On Monday, the duo went to Dehradun.
The Navi Mumbai Police with the help of the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh then found the duo and brought them back to Mumbai. Mr. Singh has been remanded in police custody for 12 days. Calls to the victim’s father for a comment remained unanswered.
