He ran. He crossed state lines. But he couldn’t run far enough.
A man with a known criminal history, wanted for the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault of a minor girl from Arunachal Pradesh’s remote Shi-Yomi district, has been arrested — caught in neighbouring Assam in what police are calling a successful inter-state joint operation.
The accused, identified as Gokar Bam, was apprehended on September 4 from Dhemaji district in Assam. The arrest came after coordinated action between the Arunachal Pradesh Police and their counterparts in Dhemaji — the kind of cross-border cooperation that doesn’t always happen fast enough in cases like these, but thankfully did this time.
Mechuka Deputy Superintendent of Police Radhe Obing confirmed the arrest and said that Bam was wanted in a case registered at Mechuka Police Station in connection with the incident involving the young girl. The Mechuka area falls under Shi-Yomi district — one of the state’s more geographically isolated regions, tucked deep near the China border. Getting in and out isn’t easy. Which may be exactly why the accused thought he could slip away.
He was wrong.
The most important part of this story — the part that actually matters — is that the minor victim has been safely rescued. Police confirmed she is now receiving the necessary care and protection. That’s the headline within the headline. A child who went through something no child should ever have to endure is now safe, and the man accused of putting her through it is in custody.
Bam is described as a history-sheeter, which in Indian legal terminology means he has a documented prior criminal record. That context matters. It tells you this wasn’t someone who simply made a terrible one-time mistake and panicked. This was someone already known to law enforcement, who allegedly committed a horrific crime against a child and then fled the state to evade justice.
The police deserve credit here. Cross-state operations aren’t always smooth. Jurisdictions, coordination, logistics — it can all slow things down. But Arunachal Pradesh Police pushed through, worked with Dhemaji, and brought the accused back. The investigation is still underway, and more details are expected to emerge as the case moves forward.
Cases involving crimes against children in remote districts of the Northeast often go unnoticed at the national level. The geography is difficult, the communities are small, and the news cycle rarely pauses long enough to pay attention. That’s what makes it essential to report on moments like this — not just as a crime story, but as a reminder that even in the farthest corners of the country, victims deserve to be seen, heard, and protected.
Justice may be slow sometimes. But in this case, it showed up.
