A 22-year-old rape accused, who was kept under quarantine at a COVID Care Centre in Malad East, managed to escape during the wee hours of Saturday. However, in less than two days of being informed about his escape, the Dindoshi police traced him to Malvani Ambujwadi area and arrested him once again.

Police had booked Ashok Ramnarayan Harijan, alias Jaiswal, in a rape case last month. Sources said he had eloped with a 16-year-old girl, following which her family had filed a complaint. On July 28, the Malvani police caught him and made the girl undergo a medical test, which revealed that she had been raped. He was booked under Sections 363 and 376 of IPC and various sections of POCSO Act. The Dindoshi sessions court on July 29 sent him to police custody, during which he tested COVID-19 positive. On August 3, he was sent to Nirmala College of Commerce and Science quarantine centre.