After the police had found the girl's body, they had launched a manhunt to nab the culprits. The Powai police had rounded up all history-sheeters and drug addicts of the area.
The Powai police on Saturday arrested two people in connection with the rape and murder of four-year-old Shreya Meshram, who had gone missing from her residence last Sunday. The police recovered the victim's body from a septic tank near a shut business park in the area last Wednesday.
According to the Powai police, the accused have been identified as Shamsher Khan (25), a resident of Chembur, and Ravi Solanki (28), a resident of Tunga village in Powai, both addicts Officers said that last Sunday Khan had come to Powai to visit his friend Solanki. The two had consumed narcotics and were roaming the streets of Powai.
"The accused were under the influence of drugs and it was then that they spotted the victim, who had wandered away from her house and was standing by the roadside alone. The duo kidnapped her and took her to an isolated spot near the business park and sexually assaulted her before strangulating her," said deputy commissioner of police (zone X) Vinayak Deshmukh. "The duo later dumped her body into the septic tank before escaping from the spot."
After the police had found the girl's body, they had launched a manhunt to nab the culprits. The Powai police had rounded up all history-sheeters and drug addicts of the area. They had also been going through footage from the CCTV in the area. While going through the CCTV clips they spotted Khan and Solanki among them, with Meshram in tow.
"The route that was taken by the accused to take the victim to the isolated spot had one CCTV camera installed and, luckily for us, the camera had captured the three," said an officer from Powai police station on condition of anonymity. "We first picked up Solanki, who confessed to the crime. He led us to Khan."
The Powai police said the two had not planned the rape and murder and that it was on the spur of the moment that they decided to take the girl. "The child had come far from her house and was alone. The two men being high decided to kidnap and rape her," said Deshmukh.
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