Mumbai, Apr 18: A scooter rider was arrested on Friday for allegedly spitting on a 25-year-old woman in Kalina, here, earlier this month.

The incident took place on April 6 when the Manipuri woman was strolling in Geeta Vihar. In her complaint, she expressed that she was unable to take down the license plate number of the scooter and also her fear of having been exposed to COVID-19.

Ever since the complaint had been lodged, police have scanned through footage from over 120 private and government CCTV cameras from Kurla to Goregaon, attempting to identify the motorist.

One footage showed the accused speaking over the phone while going past Air India Colony in Kalina. The police went on to analyze over 1.2 lac phone numbers found active at the time of the incident in the area and zeroed in on 50 of those. The accused was finally found to be Mohammad Amir Khan, a 23-year-old Kurla West resident.

On questioning, the accused claimed that he did not mean to spit on the woman and that it was an accident. However, on analyzing the CCTV footage, it is indicated that he could have easily avoided spitting on the woman, a senior police officer said. He claims that they are interrogating him further.

The motorist was booked under the Indian Penal Code for committing a malignant act that is likely to cause the spread of a deadly infection and for assaulting a person without being provoked.