india

Updated: Jul 08, 2019 13:47 IST

The 35-year-old man arrested in connection with the rape of a seven-year-old girl in Jaipur has confessed to sexually assaulting 35 other children and raping 40 men and transgenders, police have said.

The girl was allegedly raped in Shastri Nagar area of the Rajasthan capital on July 1, triggering protests who demanded the arrest of the culprit. During their investigation, police also found that the accused had raped a four-year-old girl in the same area.

He was arrested on July 4 from Kota when he had gone to meet a person in the Bhimganj Mandi area after remaining untraceable for five days.

Jaipur city commissioner of police (CP) Anand Srivastava said the man is a “sexual predator”.

“The accused used to look after prey every day. He has confessed to raping 35 children and 40 men and even transgenders. He is physically more attracted towards man,” Srivastava said.

Srivastava said that after the Shastri Nagar rape incident, police had initially no clue about the accused.

“The picture of the accused was not clear as the CCTV footage was getting pixilated. The only clue we had was that the same bike was used in both the (rape) incidents,” Srivastava said.

The motorcycle used by him to abduct the minors was stolen and he had changed its registration number plate so that his identity is not disclosed.

“Three days ago, head constable Dinesh Yadav, posted at Shastri Nagar police station, told us that Jeevanu (the accused) was seen in the area a few days back,” the commissioner said.

After the constable informed senior officials about the presence of the accused in Shastri Nagar police station area, his records were checked and his photograph was obtained and verified by the victims.

It was circulated among informers and police stations of the state, following which constable Mohammad Margoob of Subhash Chowk police station came to know that he was living as a tenant in Nai Ka Thadi locality.

“Constable Margoob through his sources came to know that if the accused will go to Kota, he will definitely meet a person known as ‘Babu Chaiwala’ whose shop is in Bhimganj police station area. The accused came in contact with Babu when he was shifted to Kota jail on a temporary basis,” said Srivastava.

Police kept an eye on Babu and as he reached Kota on Saturday and met Babu, a police team from Bhimganj police station nabbed him.

At least 12 cases are registered against him including three cases of rape, one of murder, in which he was sentenced, one case of attempt to murder, two cases of molestation, two cases of theft and three cases of burglary.

The accused had shot a liquor shopkeeper on his way to Kota in Deoli town of Tonk district and looted Rs 20,000 from him. He also confessed during interrogation to shooting a man identified from Gujarat in Jaipur, police said.

The accused said during interrogation that he knew who had given his details and threatened to kill the person, according to police.

Past records of the accused show that he was arrested on charges of unnatural sex, rape and murder of a minor boy in Jaipur’s Mulripura area in 2004. In 2015, he was given interim bail by the high court when he was lodged in the Sanganer open jail. In 2016, two cases of theft and three cases of burglary were registered against him.

In 2017, he was booked in two different cases of molestation in the same locality where the two minors were raped recently. In the same incident, another case of attempt to murder was registered against him after he hit a constable with a steel road on his head and injured him. He was arrested and later granted bail in the case.

In 2016, two cases of theft and three cases of burglary were also registered against him. Further investigation is on, police said.