Eight years on the run, Budge Budge rape accused held at Mumbai airport

Kolkata: An accused in a rape case from the Budge Budge area, who had been absconding for nearly eight years, was arrested from Mumbai airport on Sunday, police said.

According to sources, the accused, identified as Sheikh Sohaib, a resident of the Ekbalpore area, worked as a gym trainer at a Budge Budge gymnasium around eight years ago.

During that period, he came in contact with a woman and allegedly raped her multiple times on the pretext of marriage.

When the woman began pressuring him to marry her, Sohaib fled the city, sources said. He later travelled to London, secured employment, and has been residing there since 2018.

Following the woman’s complaint, police registered a case and attempted to trace the accused but failed. Subsequently, investigators obtained his passport details and issued a Look Out Circular (LOC). A warrant was also issued against him by the Ekbalpore police station.

On Sunday evening, Budge Budge police received a communication from Mumbai airport stating that Sohaib had been detained there.

A joint team from Budge Budge and Ekbalpore police stations immediately left for Mumbai on Monday.

The accused was arrested, brought back to Kolkata, and produced before a local court, which remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.