Kannur: The Kannur Town Police have nabbed a POCSO case accused who escaped from police custody while being transported by train from Pune to Kannur. The accused, Sanjuraj Malhotra (45), a native of Pune, was traced and arrested at Mahabaleshwar. He will be produced before the court after being brought to the Kannur Town Police Station.

Malhotra is the accused in the case involving the alleged sexual assault of a schoolgirl at a lodge near Kannur railway station. Acting on a tip-off that he was hiding in Pune, the Kannur Town Police had arrested him there and were bringing him back to Kannur by train when he escaped.

The incident occurred around 3 am on Monday. As the Pune–Ernakulam Express halted at Ratnagiri, the accused jumped off the train and fled.

Following the escape, the police team got down at Ratnagiri and launched a search operation. He was tracked down and arrested in Mahabaleshwar. A four-member team led by a Sub-Inspector, including a woman police officer from the Kannur Town Police Station, carried out the operation.