Bhubnaeswar: Police on Tuesday arrested a 61-year-old man for allegedly raping a minor girl on Monday.

The police said the survivor, 10, was a friend of the man's granddaughter. Both of them hailed from Kharavela Nagar. The cops swung into action after the survivor's family lodged a complaint on Tuesday evening.

The police said the accused lured the girl by offering her sweets when she was playing with his granddaughter outside his home.

"After the two girls came to his room, the accused sent his granddaughter out to get some food and raped her friend," said a police officer.

The accused later threatened the victim not to tell his granddaughter about the incident. "The survivor later narrated her ordeal to her family members, who confronted the accused. But the accused denied the allegations," said the police officer.

Deputy commissioner of police, Bhubaneswar, Anup Kumar Sahoo said the victim had been medically examined. "We registered a case on Tuesday and the accused was immediately nabbed. He was produced in court on Wednesday," said Sahoo.

Bhubaneswar witnessed a 62 per cent rise in rapes in 2017 compared to 2016. Official statistics suggest that 125 cases were registered in 2017 against 77 in 2016. of those, 82 victims were minors.

A 55-year-old man was arrested on June 10 for allegedly raping a 12-year-old mute girl in Mancheswar. The accused, a neighbour of the survivor, took the girl to his house forcefully and raped her. In April, the police arrested a 48-year-old man for allegedly raping his own daughter. The 10-year-old girl was sleeping with her 12-year-old sister when the accused forced himself on her.

Graft cuffs

Vigilance sleuths on Wednesday arrested Dilip Kumar Rout, a junior clerk at the office of SCB Medical College and Hospital superintendent in Cuttack after he was caught demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 5,000 to prepare a Seventh Pay Commission arrear bill for a retired employee of the medical college.