NAVI MUMBAI: It is a rare celebration time for the close-knit team of 50 officials of

, who had dedicated the last 12 months in trying to trace and arrest the evasive serial rapist and child molestor, Rehan Qureshi. The cops told TOI that they would often stand at Mira Road area for days together disguised as hawkers, college students and even roadside "taporis" to find the rapist.

More than 1 crore mobile call data records were analyzed, as the 30-year-old accused had kept changing his appearance; but could not avoid walking in a distinctive "

" gait as was seen in his hit film "Ram Lakhan". Often, out of frustration when no clues were forthcoming, some of the crime branch sleuths had given him colourful nicknames. The officers are now happy to receive the reward for nabbing the most wanted rapist whose large posters were put up at several public places.

API

of crime branch unit -1 said, "To trace the suspect paedophile, we were loitering in Mira Road area by dressing up casually to appear like local residents. We donned cheap t-shirt and trousers and never dressed up neatly, and wore slippers. We also plugged in mobile ear phones to blend in with the local youths."

He added, "As we were carefully watching every man walking on the street, we recently spotted the suspect man on

in sector -11, Naya Nagar, around 4 pm. He had stepped out of his house for having a cup of tea and to smoke. We took precaution while apprehending him by keeping a watch on his movements. He sensed that he was trapped and was hiding in the crowd and attempted to give a slip, but our crime branch team of eight cops in plain clothes were in constant communication on a WhatsApp group and surrounded him from all sides."

Even after arresting him, he attempted to escape when he was being bundled inside the police jeep, but the crime branch personnel overpowered him.

When asked about his unique style of walking, another official informed that Quereshi would often keep one shoulder stiff and a bit lowered, like in the film song "One-two-ka-four" in the Anil Kapoor film, Ram Lakhan.

Around 500-odd hours of CCTV footage scanning and skimming was done over the months, through around one crore mobile call data records apart from hundreds of hours of field vigilance. Qureshi was wanted by Navi Mumbai, Thane rural, Palghar and Mumbai police for a total of 15 cases of rape, kidnapping and molestation along with POCSO Act cases registered against him in the past two years.

Police Commissioner

said, "To make it a watertight case, I had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by an ACP (crime) along with two police officers and two women inspectors. We will also seek to fast track court prosecution for the accused paedophile."

He added, "The 15 sexual assault cases against Qureshi consist of seven rapes and eight molestation cases. Out of them, seven cases (2 rapes and 5 molestations) are registered in Navi Mumbai. The suspect youth was identified by his body language as he had a distinct walking style."

Though, he attempted to change his facial appearance by sometimes growing a moustache and beard, he was identified from his hair style. From his Mira road flat, the police recovered his passport that revealed his identity as Rehan Qureshi, born in 1988 and hailing from UP where his four brothers reside. His passport mentions his residence address of Parel, Mumbai, which is being verified. He has passed HSC and previously worked as a salesman for Fitwell Fixet company but presently he was unemployed. During his house search, cops also found his clothes as seen in the several CCTV footages which he wore when he targeted minors. The laptop and storage devices found at his house will be analysed as one victim girl has stated that he had clicked her pictures from his mobile. Being a salesman he was smart enough to easily convince the victims.

After his arrest on Wednesday, it was revealed that he was the same person who was arrested by Taloja police on January 23, 2015, for allegedly molesting a minor girl in Owe village where he then resided. After his release on bail, he shifted to Mira Road. After a gap of more than a year, on July 20, 2016, he raped a minor girl in Thane rural, when the Navghar police had booked a suspect unware that he was the same man arrested by Taloja police in 2015. Thereafter, the paedophile continued targeting several minor girls between 8 to 12 years in different cities. The last case was registered against him at Tulinj police station for raping a minor girl in Nalasopara on September 22.