Man held for raping, murdering 29-year-old woman in Thane

A 50-year-old man was arrested late Monday night for allegedly raping and murdering a woman in Maharashtra's Thane district, with officials claiming that picking up a trail for the probe was difficult as both accused and victim did not use mobile phones.

The body of the 29-year-old woman was found in a forested patch of Ganeshpuri area on September 15, after which four teams of Ganeshpuri and Bhiwandi police were formed.

"The woman who worked in a factory in Waliv in Vasai did not use a phone. So electronic tracking to piece together the chain of events was not possible. So we had to employ more routine methods. Later, we found out that the accused did not use a phone either," an official said.

Ganeshpuri Deputy Superintendent of Police Dileep Godbole said Ramesh Bhavar (50), who lives just 100 metres away from the victim's residence, was held late Monday night.