After a five-day search, Feroz Khan, 35, of Amarpur in Bihar’s Banka district who has been accused of raping a four-year-old in Madhya Pradesh on April 17, was arrested in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district on Tuesday.
Feroz, arrested at his aunt’s place near the Hussainabad Masjid, was produced on Wednesday before Bhagalpur chief judicial magistrate R.C. Malviya, who granted a three-day transit remand. He was then taken to Jabalpur by road, Jameel Asghar, Station House Officer, Mujahidpur, told The Hindu .
Feroz confessed to the crime, he said.
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Local residents played an important role in the arrest.
“The Madhya Pradesh police searched various places, wherever his relatives resided. So the police from different districts were also looking for him. He was finally arrested here. The people in the mohalla helped us nab him,” Rajesh Kumar, Senior Superintendent of Police, Bhagalpur, told The Hindu .
After they received information from the Madhya Pradesh police on April 20, the Banka police first began their search in his home district. The Madhya Pradesh police was in touch with Feroz’s mother. Since she was also in touch with her son, he got wind of the chase and decided to get off the train at Bhagalpur, Banka Superintendent of Police Pushkar Anand said.
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At Bhagalpur, he went to his aunt’s place and exchanged SIMs with her.
He then went to Araria and Supaul districts. After tracing the SIM to Supaul, the police went to the India-Nepal border, suspecting that he might escape to Nepal.
“However, Feroz’s mobile phone was stolen, and he ran out of money. So he came back to Bhagalpur, where the news of his crime had spread. So the people helped us nab him,” Mr. Anand said.
Feroz allegedly raped the girl at Barela in Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh on April 17. He dumped her on a farmland and fled to Bihar. The victim is still in a critical condition at a Nagpur hospital.