Prayagraj: A 28-year-old man accused in a rape and murder case and out on bail since June was arrested by a joint team of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Monday night near Lalit Nagar Railway Colony in Prayagraj for allegedly kidnapping and raping a nine-year-old girl, police said.The accused, identified as Ajay Kumar of Mirzapur, has been booked under Sections 137(2) and 65(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 5(L)(M) and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.According to GRP officials, the girl was rescued from Satna railway station on Sept 9 after police traced her while she was allegedly abandoned by the accused.Police said on Sept 8, a woman from Mirzapur arrived at Mirzapur railway station with her daughter and a relative to board a train to Delhi. At the station, the accused struck up a conversation with the family, claiming that he too was travelling to Delhi. He then took a seat opposite them in the train compartment.When the train reached Prayagraj Junction later that evening, the accused allegedly misled the woman by telling her they had boarded the wrong train and would need to catch another one at 10 pm. Trusting his claim, the family got off the train.After disembarking, the accused allegedly lured the girl with the promise of snacks and told her mother that he would return shortly with food and drinks. When the girl failed to return, the family alerted GRP and RPF personnel.Following an examination of CCTV footage and other intelligence inputs, police tracked the girl to Satna railway station on Sept 9.Police said the accused allegedly took the girl to a lodge near Cheoki railway station, where he sexually assaulted her, before abandoning her at Satna railway station the following morning.After the incident, the accused frequently changed locations to evade arrest. He was eventually apprehended near the Lalit Nagar area of Prayagraj.Police said Kumar had earlier been arrested in 2022 on charges of raping and murdering a minor girl inside a train compartment near Manikpur.
