Bhopal: Police on Wednesday said they have taken a serial child rapist off the streets by cracking two unsolved rapes that puzzled the cops so much that investigators had the guts of stray dogs examined to find out why they hadn't barked during a crime. The accused, 21-year-old Mehtab Malviya, who is out on bail in a murder case, allegedly preyed on girls aged between five and seven years in Bhopal and adjoining areas.Police say Mehtab, a resident of Runha, about 65km from Bhopal, has confessed to the two child rapes and police hope to get breakthroughs in many such unsolved cases. He used to kidnap children in their sleep, rape them and dump them on roadsides, say investigators.Bhopal range IG Yogesh Chaudhary said Mehtab's arrest has solved one of the most difficult cases — the rape of a five-year-old girl in Berasia, Bhopal, on July 15. The police questioned 1,000 people and even examined strays but couldn't identify a suspect. The lead came from a similar case in September — the abduction and rape of a seven-year-old in Rajgarh. Both children were kidnapped in their sleep, brazenly from inside their homes."The distance between the two crime scenes is only 10km. This told us that the accused could be a paedophile targeting girls within a small radius. Traditional intelligence system was activated and a suspect was identified. After basic investigations and a few rounds of questioning, he confessed," said the IG.Ragharh SP Himani Khanna, who led the investigations, said Mehtab has been charged with rape of two children and is being interrogated for possibility of his role in more cases. "When we started working on the Narsinghgarh rape case, we came to know that a stranger was seen in the locality that day. He was traced to Runaha village in Berasia," she said.Mehtab told police that he had gone to Narsinghgarh to buy electrical equipment. He had booze in the afternoon and while returning to Runaha, spotted the little girl sleeping alone in a house in the evening. He had made a similar attempt in 2016, but was mistaken for a thief and beaten up. In 2015, he was arrested in a murder case. "He is on bail from high court," said SP Kapoor."After the suspect was identified, I wanted to double check. A senior officer was sent from Bhopal to corroborate evidence. Mehtab has narrated the sequence of crimes in a convincing manner, leaving no doubt. Samples are being sent for forensic analysis to strengthen the case against him," said the IG.The July 15 case was a complicated one. Around 10pm, Nazirabad police got a call that a child was missing. Police sent a team and found the girl naked and bleeding. From black magic to paedophiles, police probed all possible angles. Perhaps taking cue from a Sherlock Holmes story, where he cracked a case by finding out why the dog didn't bark, Bhopal police had turned to the strays that prowl the locality. "There were dogs sitting outside the girl's house when she was kidnapped. We are surprised why they did not bark on seeing a stranger. So we called a vet and asked him to examine if the dogs were drugged," said a police officer. Investigators had also mined cell-phone tower data for clues.The child is still in a shock and screams if she sees a stranger. "The suspect will be paraded before the survivors for identification as standard protocol. I am happy that our team was able to solve the case," said the IG.

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