Thane, Apr 23 (PTI) Police have arrested a 32-year-old man for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old girl from a village in Shahapur taluka of Thane district, an official said on Wednesday.

District Superintendent of Police (SP) DS Swami told reporters that the incident took place in the morning of April 17 when the minor girl was on way to her school.

A man, later identified as Sachin Suresh Jadhav, a resident of Padgha under Bhiwandi taluka, lured the victim under the pretext of getting cloths and kidnapped her. He took the teenager on his scooter to an isolated location in a jungle where he raped her, said the police officer.

The girl somehow freed herself from the clutches of the accused and reached home where she informed her parents about the ordeal. Based on a complaint by the family, police registered an FIR against the man under BNS provisions related to rape, kidnap, and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said.

Police formed a couple of teams and the Local Crime Branch and the Shahapur police relied on several leads, including CCTV footage, technical and intelligence inputs, and finally zeroed on the accused, said the SP.

Police nabbed Jadhav on Monday from his village and seized the scooter used in the crime which was stolen by him from Mulund in adjoining Mumbai, he added. PTI COR RSY