TNN | Aug 17, 2011, 03.03AM IST
AHMEDABAD: A 25-year-old man was arrested by the Vastrapur police for harassing a girl for a month over the phone and passing lewd comments. Officials said the accused is a habitual offender in crime against women.
Investigators said Shilpa (name changed), 21, a native of central Gujarat and student at a Vastrapur college, started receiving SMSes from an unknown number in mid-July. Initially, she ignored the messages, but when the frequency of the messages increased, she called up on the number, but in vain. Her calls were rejected every time. Later, she started receiving calls from another number and the caller asked her to meet him and threatened to rape her if she refused.
"After ignoring the matter for long, she decided to inform the police. Vastrapur police inspector S K Sharma and sub-inspector K M Dabhda then asked Shilpa to cooperate and set up a trap. She asked the caller to meet her and he agreed to meet her at Barista at Vijay crossroads on Monday afternoon. She went there on time but there was no sign of the caller. She then received messages praising her dress and how good she looked, but the sender refused to show up," said a Vastrapur police official.
After a while, the caller sent another message asking her to meet at Honest, a few metres away from the spot. She obliged. After keeping her waiting for more than 15 minutes, he told Shilpa to come near a silver Honda City car. When she sat in the car, a team of police officials surrounded the car and arrested the driver.
"He was identified as Shreepal Shah, 25, a resident of Ratan Pol and owner of Rajendra Mobile Shop in in Vastrapur. His shop deals in mobile phones and also offers recharges. Shilpa, who lives in the same area, used to visit his shop for mobile recharges. He had noted down her number and had started calling and messaging her. We also recovered the mobile phones he used to threaten Shilpa," said the official.
The investigators told TOI that Shah had used the same tactic to woo a girl from West Bengal three years back and later married her. However, the relationship did not last long and she left him. He was apprehended last year by the Vastrapur police when a girl complained of harassment by him. However, at that time, he feigned ignorance and told investigators that his number might have been misused someone else.
Investigators said Shilpa (name changed), 21, a native of central Gujarat and student at a Vastrapur college, started receiving SMSes from an unknown number in mid-July. Initially, she ignored the messages, but when the frequency of the messages increased, she called up on the number, but in vain. Her calls were rejected every time. Later, she started receiving calls from another number and the caller asked her to meet him and threatened to rape her if she refused.
"After ignoring the matter for long, she decided to inform the police. Vastrapur police inspector S K Sharma and sub-inspector K M Dabhda then asked Shilpa to cooperate and set up a trap. She asked the caller to meet her and he agreed to meet her at Barista at Vijay crossroads on Monday afternoon. She went there on time but there was no sign of the caller. She then received messages praising her dress and how good she looked, but the sender refused to show up," said a Vastrapur police official.
After a while, the caller sent another message asking her to meet at Honest, a few metres away from the spot. She obliged. After keeping her waiting for more than 15 minutes, he told Shilpa to come near a silver Honda City car. When she sat in the car, a team of police officials surrounded the car and arrested the driver.
"He was identified as Shreepal Shah, 25, a resident of Ratan Pol and owner of Rajendra Mobile Shop in in Vastrapur. His shop deals in mobile phones and also offers recharges. Shilpa, who lives in the same area, used to visit his shop for mobile recharges. He had noted down her number and had started calling and messaging her. We also recovered the mobile phones he used to threaten Shilpa," said the official.
The investigators told TOI that Shah had used the same tactic to woo a girl from West Bengal three years back and later married her. However, the relationship did not last long and she left him. He was apprehended last year by the Vastrapur police when a girl complained of harassment by him. However, at that time, he feigned ignorance and told investigators that his number might have been misused someone else.
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