The Nalasopara police on Tuesday arrested a computer teacher for allegedly molesting four girls on the pretext of helping them get good marks. Action against Suleman Shaikh came after the father of one of the Std X students took up the matter with the cops.

The police said 45-year-old Shaikh of Evergreen English High School in Nalasopara (east) apparently had violated the girls over the past six months. He would ask the teenagers to take off their clothes, touch them inappropriately and make them dance. School authorities, however, refuted the charges.

"The complainant said that Shaikh had shot an obscene video of his 16-year-old daughter and used it to demand sexual favours from her. The girl had stopped eating food and refused to go to school," said an officer from Nalasopara police station.

The girl's father said, "During the farewell party on February 6, Shaikh called my daughter to his house. He removed his clothes and tried to touch her inappropriately. My daughter escaped from the place and narrated her ordeal to us."

The police booked Shaikh for molestation under the Indian Penal Code and the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, which carries a minimum punishment of three years. As they began to probe, three more girls came forward saying they too were molested by Shaikh. The accused will be produced in the Vasai court, said sub-inspector Sunil Lokhande of Nalasapora police station.

"The computer sir lured one of the girls by telling her that he would be able to provide her the question paper. He assured another student that she would get good marks as the moderators were his friends," said the parent.

Shaikh's wife Nazneen said her husband is very popular among the students and parents. "I can't even imagine that he will do such a thing. The allegations are baseless."

School authorities said the computer teacher has been working with them for the past 20 years. "He is very close to his students. In all these years, we have never had complaints of any sort against him," said a school official.