Kurar Police on December 17 arrested a 45-year-old Deaf man, Mahesh Ramesh Pawar, a resident of Virar, for allegedly sexually assaulting multiple minor girls and recording the crimes. The arrest followed a complaint by a 22-year-old woman who disclosed that Pawar had assaulted her in 2009 at a common friend’s residence. According to police, Pawar allegedly spiked the woman’s drink, sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious, and recorded the act. The case resurfaced after the video was recently circulated, prompting the survivor and her husband to approach the police. Acting swiftly on the complaint, Kurar Police traced Pawar using mobile phone location data and laid a trap. He was arrested within six hours after a coordinated technical and physical search operation. During the investigation, police recovered eight to ten obscene videos from his mobile phone, allegedly involving minor girls, including a Deaf victim. Police said Pawar would lure young girls by offering soft drinks mixed with intoxicating pills. Once the victims lost consciousness, he allegedly sexually assaulted them and recorded the crimes. He later used these recordings to blackmail and repeatedly exploit the victims.