Thane gangrape case accused held in Pune after year-long hunt
Thane (PTI): Police have arrested a 22-year-old man from Pune who had been absconding for more than a year after being accused in a gangrape and robbery case in Maharashtra’s Thane district, officials said on Tuesday.
The accused, identified as Nagesh Keshav Gaikwad, was part of a group that allegedly confined a woman and sexually assaulted her under the pretext of getting her a job in November 2024, Naigaon police station's senior inspector Sanjay Hazare said.
The accused had been evading arrest by hiding his identity since the case was registered. Following a tip-off and technical surveillance, the police tracked him to Kamshet and took him into custody on Sunday, he said.
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The case dates back to November 27, 2024, when the victim went from here to Pune seeking employment. After missing an interview, she contacted her husband's friend Pawan Rajendra Prasad Sabbat (29), who promised to help her find work.
Sabbat then lured her to come to Mira Road in Thane, where he allegedly confined her in a room, the official said.
The investigation showed that Sabbat and two of his accomplices - Dhanraj Chavan (21) and Abhishek Pujari (22) - allegedly sexually assaulted the victim over several days. They also allegedly robbed the woman of her mobile phone, gold jewellery and cash, collectively valued at Rs 75,000, he said.
Sabbat also allegedly created a fake Instagram profile using the victim's name and uploaded her photographs to harass her.
Gaikwad was accused of molesting the victim and being involved in the robbery, Hazare said.
The Naigaon police had earlier arrested Sabbat, Chavan and Pujari.
"We have booked the accused under various Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections, including 64(2)(m) (rape), 309(1) (robbery), 70 (gang rape) and 75(1)(4) (sexual harassment), and relevant provisions of the Information Technology. During preliminary interrogation, Gaikwad has confessed to his involvement," Hazare said.
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Rahul Gandhi calls Great Nicobar Island project a ‘major threat’ to environment, tribal heritage
Sri Vijaypuram (Port Blair)/ Nicobar: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the Centre’s development initiative in Great Nicobar Island on Wednesday, On his maiden visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gandhi alleged that the project will lad to large-scale environmental degradation and displacement of local communities.
The Rae Bareli MP, in a post on X after visiting the island, said the project would lead to extensive deforestation and adversely impact indigenous populations.
“So I will say it plainly, and I will keep saying it: what is being done in Great Nicobar is one of the biggest scams and gravest crimes against this country’s natural and tribal heritage in our lifetime,” Gandhi added.
“The government calls what it is doing here a ‘Project’. What I have seen is not a project. It is millions of trees marked for the axe… It is communities that have been ignored while their homes have been snatched away,” Gandhi said.
Describing the initiative as “destruction dressed in development’s language”, he termed it one of the “biggest scams” against the country’s natural and tribal heritage and called for it to be stopped.
Gandhi also claimed that nearly 160 square kilometres of rainforest could be affected, raising concerns over ecological damage.
