In a significant development, Pune Police on Friday said the man detained in connection with the alleged rape of a 22-year-old IT professional in Kondhwa was known to her, contradicting her earlier claim that the accused posed as a courier delivery agent to enter her flat.The woman had alleged that she was alone at home on Wednesday evening when a man pretending to be a courier delivery agent entered her apartment and forced himself on her. She said she passed out and found a threatening selfie and message on her phone after regaining consciousness. However, police investigations have cast serious doubts on this version of events.

Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said, “There was no forced entry and no spray used on the victim.” He added that the man who visited the woman’s house was not a stranger.

During the investigation, police retrieved CCTV footage from the society where the woman lives. “During our investigation, we obtained a clear image of the accused from CCTV cameras installed on the society premises. However, when the picture was shown to the woman, she refused to identify him,” Kumar said.

“Despite this, our teams continued working from various angles to trace the suspect, as no one other than this individual had accessed the particular floor where the woman lives. We also showed the photo to residents of the housing society, but none of them recognised him,” he added.

Police tracked the man using footage from several cameras and confirmed his mobile location matched the time and place of the alleged incident. “By tracking the movement of his motorcycle across different localities and checking volumes of footage from five to six CCTV cameras, we were able to trace him near a firm in Baner,” the officer said.The suspect was detained, and investigators confirmed he had visited the victim’s apartment on Wednesday evening.The woman had earlier told police that the accused clicked a selfie with her phone and left a message threatening to leak her photos online. However, police now say the selfie was taken with the consent of both the woman and the man.

“It was also revealed that the text message on the photo was drafted on the victim's phone after the man had left. Prima facie, it appears that the victim herself added the text to the image,” Kumar said.

The investigation is still ongoing. “Whether the alleged physical relations were consensual or forceful is still under investigation. However, a narrative was being pushed that an unidentified person posing as a courier agent was involved, which has now turned out to be false,” Kumar added.

Police say the woman later told them that her mental state was unstable at the time she filed the complaint. “When we asked the woman what led her to file such a complaint, she stated that her mental condition was unstable, and that prompted her to make the false claim,” Kumar said.

A large police team was deployed to identify and trace the alleged courier man, and officers reviewed multiple hours of CCTV footage. “It is now clear that there was an attempt to mislead the investigation,” Kumar said.

He added, “At this point, I cannot say what further course of action the police will take. We have not reached any conclusion yet, as several aspects of the case are still being examined.”

(Inputs from PTI)