Pune arrest closes long-running Delhi case; accused brought to judicial custody
Pune, A 32-year-old man alleged to be wanted in a rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) case registered in Delhi in 2018 was arrested from Burde Basti in Pune on August 6, police said on Sunday. The accused has been identified as Sagar, alias Sumit, and was taken to Delhi after transit remand was obtained, they added.
According to Delhi police records, the original FIR was registered at Anand Parbat police station on February 1, 2018, after the mother of a 16-year-old girl reported that her daughter had gone missing from home on January 24 of that year. The girl was traced on February 24 and underwent a medical examination, police said.
- The girl told the police she had eloped with Sagar and was living with him.
- She was reportedly missing again and was traced in September 2020.
- In a statement recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC before a magistrate, she said she had married Sagar and that they had a daughter.
- The woman returned to her parental home in 2023, was diagnosed with tuberculosis during treatment and died in 2024; the child is staying with the accused's grandparents, police said.
Delhi police said that despite sustained efforts the accused remained untraceable until local intelligence and technical surveillance led to his detection in Pune. After arrest, he was brought back to Delhi and produced before a duty magistrate, who sent him to judicial custody.
“He said he had eloped with the girl when she was 16 and that he later married her; he claimed to work as a vegetable vendor and to have lived with her,” police said, reporting the accused's statements during interrogation.
Investigation status and background
Police records indicate that the matter involves both rape and provisions under the POCSO Act. The girl was a minor, aged 16, at the time she initially went missing in January 2018, and later provided a Section 164 statement to a magistrate asserting marriage and childbirth. The woman’s later illness and death in 2024 were noted in the case file, and custody of the child with the accused's grandparents is recorded in police notes.
Delhi police confirmed the accused had no other criminal cases recorded against him, and that the arrest followed co-ordinated efforts using technical surveillance and local intelligence in Pune. After being taken into custody in Pune, transit remand was obtained, and he was transferred to Delhi for further legal proceedings.
| Key date | Event |
|---|---|
| 24 Jan 2018 | Girl first reported missing by her mother |
| 24 Feb 2018 | Girl traced and medically examined |
| Sept 2020 | Girl traced again |
| 2023 | Woman visited parental home; diagnosed with tuberculosis |
| 2024 | Woman died during treatment; child staying with accused's grandparents |
| 6 Aug 2026 | Accused arrested in Burde Basti, Pune |
Officials said the accused was produced before a duty magistrate in Delhi and placed in judicial custody. Further details on the ongoing investigation, chargesheeting timelines or custody arrangements for the child were not provided in the immediate statement released by police.
The arrest highlights co-operation between local policing agencies and Delhi investigators in tracing an individual who had been absconding for nearly eight years. Pune residents and local law-enforcement observers said such inter-state operations increasingly rely on a combination of human intelligence and technical surveillance to locate persons wanted in older cases.
Police in Delhi and Pune remain the primary authorities handling the case file and subsequent legal processes. Updates on court proceedings, any additional charges, and the child's welfare arrangements will be available as the legal process advances, police added.
