Surat: In a breakthrough that underscores the power of digital trails, Vansda police traced and arrested a man in Nashik district of Maharashtra and rescued a 15-year-old tribal girl he had allegedly abducted four months ago — using an X-ray report the accused had sent to his wife.Vansda police rescued the girl from a vineyard near Pimpalgaon and arrested Narendra Pawar (21), who had been evading arrest after switching off his phone.Police inspector J V Chavda said, “Narendra Pawar (21) was married and has a child from his marriage. However, he abducted the minor girl and switched off his phone to avoid being tracked. He started working at vineyards in Nashik district.“A couple of days ago, he sent an X-ray report to his wife through an Instagram message. His wife thought the report was a pregnancy report of the minor girl and approached us. However, it was a kidney stone X-ray report. Using the report, we traced him to Pimpalgaon and rescued the girl. We arrested him for offences under the BNS and Pocso Act.”“The X-ray report bore the name ‘Sahyadri Diagnostic Centre’. A search revealed 22 centres with the same name, prompting police to begin a systematic elimination.“We had the time of the X-ray printed on it but not the patient’s name. Based on the time, one doctors confirmed it to be a kidney stone X-ray he had conducted and shared the patient’s details. From these details, we reached a vineyard in Baswant village near Pimpalgaon and arrested the accused,” Chavda said.Police said the accused had been moving between vineyards in Nashik district to avoid detection before the crucial lead exposed his location.
