CCTV footage helps nab child rapist

Bhopal: A 36-year-old man was arrested on Thursday for abduction and rape of a minor from Khajurikalan village on city outskirts on March 23. Doctors at a private hospital said the girl's condition is critical and was not in a condition to speak.
The 10-year-old was found dumped on fields near Misrod, where she lay bleeding and unconscious for nearly 24 hours.Her statement to police will confirm the site of crime. A preliminary inquiry shows the girl was gang-raped, but police are trying to ascertain identity of other accused.
Accused took the minor on a bicycle, 2km away from her home on the pretext of giving her chocolate and sexually assaulted her and dumped her in the fields after tying her to a bed sheet. When she did not return home, her father lodged a missing persons report at Awadhpuri police station.
Police said, accused could be a psychic and serial rapist and had targeted minors. He has been booked for rape and under stringent sections of POSCO. He could also be booked under National Security Act. The girl's abduction was caught on CCTV installed outside a shop in the village. Clinching footage helped police nab the accused on Thursday, who returned to the same area. Talking to reporters, senior superintendent of police, Raman Singh Sikarwar, said on Friday accused has been identified as Pramod Sharma, 36, a resident of Kokta. He is married and has children. He hails from Shujalpur and was working as a labourer in Bhopal for three years.
On the day of incident, the girl was with her sister and a friend, when accused took her away. Later, police swerved into action and scanned CCTV footage at a welding shop of Indal Singh Rajput.
Policemen were deployed for search operations and he was spotted at Khajuri bypass square on Thursday. He confessed to his crime after arrest and told police he had dumped the girl on the fields near Misrod bypass petrol pump. During interrogation, he denied visiting the spot from where he abducted the minor.
Officials announced a cash reward of Rs 10,000 to Indal Singh Rajput as CCTV cameras installed in his shop helped in the arrest. A reward was also announced for two policemen, who nabbed him on the basis of the footage. Rajput said he would donate the reward money to the rape survivor.