Mumbai: Child rapist and killer held after cops see through his 'new look'

Drastically altering his looks while on the run could not save a 23-year-old from Chennai from the police, who instantly recognised him in Mumbai on Friday and arrested him. S Daswant is accused of killing his mother, and raping and murdering a 7-year-old girl. Daswant had fled from Chennai police custody and reached Mumbai on Wednesday.

Daswant had fled from custody

He quickly got a haircut and a French beard to evade detection by the cops. "Daswant looked completely different when he was spotted at Kala Ghoda. But, a team of police officers who were with an officer from the Tamil Nadu police immediately identified him. As they were a little unsure about whether it was him, they first grabbed him and checked his hands. Sure enough the handcuffs he had escaped with were still on his wrist, which he was hiding under long sleeves.

He was promptly arrested," sources said. Inspector Charles (he has no second name) from the Tamil Nadu police told mid-day, "Daswant was produced in court on Saturday and will be taken to Chennai." Daswant has been in Mumbai for the past three days. The Chennai police suspected that he had escaped to Mumbai as he was addicted to betting. An officer from Tamil Nadu police said, "The Mumbai police played an important role in helping us arrest him again."

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, current affairs from Mumbai, local news, crime news and breaking headlines here

Download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go