The accused, identified as Sunil Rastogi, was arrested from Rudrapur in Uttarakhand where he was staying with his family, police said. The accused, identified as Sunil Rastogi, was arrested from Rudrapur in Uttarakhand where he was staying with his family, police said.

A 38-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting schoolgirls in Ghaziabad and east Delhi by luring them with clothes and chocolates, and pretending he was a friend of their father, police said on Sunday. According to the DCP (east), the accused has told them he “tried to sexually assault 600 girls”.

The accused, identified as Sunil Rastogi, was arrested from Rudrapur in Uttarakhand where he was staying with his family, police said.

Watch What Else Is Making News

According to police, the incident came to light after a seven-year-old girl was allegedly raped inside an under-construction building near her school in east Delhi on December 12 last year. A case was registered at New Ashok Nagar police station.

DCP (east) O S Bishnoi said, “The victim who was allegedly raped on December 12 gave a description of the man, based on which we made a rough sketch of the accused. The sketch was then circulated to various states. We were also looking into inmates released from various jails.”

The seven-year-old victim told police that the accused pretended he was calling her father before taking her to a desolate spot and allegedly raping her.

After inquiring from about 40 jails, police received a reply from Haldwani jail. “The Haldwani jail officials told us that an alleged paedophile was released in August 2016,” said Singh.

Meanwhile, two separate cases were registered under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 365 (kidnapping and wrongful restraint), in which the accused had lured two girls from outside their schools and had tried to take them to desolated spaces. The girls, however, managed to flee. Police said that in both cases, the accused appeared to be the same person.

“The sketch was already with us and then we got his picture through CCTV footage. We arrested him from his home in Rudrapur,” Singh added.

According to police, Rastogi, a tailor, lived in Delhi from 1990 till 2004.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Delhi News, download Indian Express App.