A 20-year-old Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) student from Mumbai was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday in Maharashtra's Nagpur for allegedly kidnapping, sexually assaulting and repeatedly knifing a Class 12 girl he had befriended on Instagram, police said.

Following a 20-hour-long search, police reached a flat in Dighori, an area in south Nagpur, where they found the survivor tied up. (PTI/File Photo)

The girl was rescued after a 20-hour-long search and was found tied up inside a flat in south Nagpur. The knife, which police believe was used to repeatedly attack her, was recovered from a bedside table, HT reported earlier.

Following a 20-hour-long search, police reached a flat in Dighori, an area in south Nagpur, where they found the survivor tied up. The accused was standing nearby with a belt in his hand.

A knife recovered from the bedside table was allegedly used to repeatedly slash the girl.

The survivor was taken to Government Medical College and Hospital for treatment after being rescued. The accused was arrested and brought to the Hudkeshwar police station.

According to investigators, the accused allegedly pressured the girl to continue their sexual relationship and threatened to upload her photographs online if she refused.

He befriended the girl on Instagram in May last year when she was 16.

Police said he had rented a flat in Dighori and had met the girl there on at least one previous occasion before last week.

Investigators said that the accused brought the survivor to the rented flat on Sunday morning, where she was kept confined for more than 24 hours until the police rescued her.

He had contacted the girl on Instagram in May last year through a fake profile created under the name Akash Mehra. The girl is the daughter of a revenue officer.

Senior Inspector Anamika Mirzapure told HT that the accused had been sent to police custody for two days for further questioning. His parents arrived in Nagpur from Thane on Tuesday after they were informed about the case.

"We are investigating whether the accused was involved in similar offences in the past. His Instagram account, mobile phones and other digital devices are being examined," Mirzapure said.

During the investigation, police examined the girl's Instagram conversations and other digital evidence.

Based on those leads, they identified the accused and reached out to his family at their home in Thane.

At the request of Nagpur police, officers in Thane asked the accused's mother to call him so his location could be tracked.

As soon as he answered the call, cyber experts traced his location to the Dighori area.