Gujarat: ATS arrests man who raped minor girl after jumping parole

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Sunday said it arrested a man who is accused of sedating and raping a minor girl in 2018 after jumping parole in a drugs case in which he was facing a 20-year jail term.

Anwar Baig alias Anwar Bandar was sentenced to death by a special NDPS court in Nadiad after he was arrested with 40-kg charas in 2004. The death sentence was later commuted to 20 years in jail. He had been arrested from Ahmedabad, the ATS said in a release.

In 2018, Baig jumped parole and allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl after sedating her. He was dodging law enforcement agencies since then, the ATS said.

"Based on human intelligence and technical surveillance, the ATS learnt that he was hiding in Kashmir. A team left for Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, Baig had left Kashmir, and it was learnt that he was hiding at Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan," said the agency.

The ATS said after escaping to Jammu and Kashmir Baig changed his name to Bilal. Another ATS team left for Ajmer, where it learnt that Baig was now hiding at Meera-Datar Dargah at Unava in Gujarat's Mehsana district. From there, he left for Narol in Ahmedabad from where he was finally arrested, the ATS said.

The rape case against Baig was registered at Panigate police station in Vadodara on June 26, 2018, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The ATS will investigate whether Baig was involved in any drugs case or anti-national activities after jumping parole.