A transaction at an ATM kiosk in Surat helped Versova police track down the accused – Deepak Malakar (26), who claims to be a film editor and casting director – and arrest him on Monday, three days after he fled from Mumbai after the August 11 incident.
The teenager is recuperating in hospital, after a two-day stay in the ICU.
Police claimed that Malakar has confessed that he wanted to kill the girl because she had rejected his advances as she wanted to pursue a career in Hindi films. “Malakar had switched off his mobile phone to evade arrest. However, the ATM withdrawal from his bank account helped us track down his location to Surat and apprehend him,” said a police officer.
Police said the teenager, a first-year science student, had befriended Malakar on Facebook last year. Two months ago, he approached her parents with a marriage proposal. “They agreed and allowed him to stay in their 1-BHK flat, but the girl told him that she wanted to complete her studies and try her luck in Bollywood before marrying him,” said the police officer. “During his stay at her house, he tried to initiate physical relations with her, but she maintained a distance, which angered him.”
On August 11, Malakar took the girl to a friend’s flat in Versova village, where he was living before staying at her place, on the pretext of collecting his belongings and tried to sexually assault her. “When she resisted, he banged her head to the wall and rained blows on her face till she collapsed. Assuming that she was dead, he panicked, locked the flat from outside and fled the city,” said the officer. An hour later, when the girl regained consciousness, she screamed for help and neighbours came to her rescue and called the police.
DCP (zone IX) Krishnakant Upadhaya set up a team comprising Versova police senior inspector Ganesh Pawar, sub-inspectors Dnyaneshwar Jadhav and Nagesh Misal and staff to track down Malakar. “The accused had switched off his phone, but was communicating with his friends by making calls from local booths and pedestrians’ phones in Surat. Finally, the ATM withdrawals helped us track down his location on Monday,” said the officer.
Malakar has been booked under the IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder), 342 (wrongful confinement), 354 (outrage modesty), and 354 (D) (stalking). He has been remanded in cop custody till August 18.
