Singh said Steel was earlier arrested on similar charges of kidnapping a schoolgirl in 2003 in the neighbouring Maharajganj district.

'An expert musician and singer, Steel came to Maharajganj from Kolkata in 2003 and joined as a music teacher in an inter college. However, within a month he kidnapped a girl and was missing for over 15 days, following which an FIR (first information report) was lodged by the girl's parents and he was arrested. However, he got bail within two months and reached Gorakhpur,' Singh said.

Interrogations also revealed that Steel married a Christian girl in Gorakhpur and also had two children with her. However, he continued changing schools in the same district and the police now suspect that he committed similar crimes in every school where he taught.

Gorakhpur is some 300 km from Lucknow.