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Prime suspect in Bulandshahr girl’s rape-murder killed in encounter: UP Police
The prime suspect in the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Bulandshahr, was killed in a police encounter in Gulawathi early Sunday.
The prime suspect in the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Bulandshahr was killed in a police encounter in the Gulawathi area of Uttar Pradesh early Sunday.
Police on Saturday had announced a bounty of ₹50,000 on the prime suspect, identified as Monu, who allegedly abducted the Class 4 student from outside her home in Bulandshahr district on August 1, sexually assaulted her and killed her before dumping her body in bushes near Vair railway station, police said.
The minor went missing from her home in the Kakod area on July 31 around 3pm and her family had been searching for her since then. On Saturday evening, locals spotted an unclothed body near Vair railway station in the bushes and informed the police.
According to police officers, the girl had injuries on her face, shoulders, hands, abdomen, chest and legs.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dinesh Kumar Singh said a joint team of the SWAT and local police was conducting checking in the Gulawathi area around 4 am on Sunday when they spotted two men travelling on a motorcycle without a number plate.
“The suspects opened fire at the police team when they were asked to stop. In the retaliatory firing, Monu sustained bullet injuries. He was taken to hospital, where doctors declared him dead,” the SSP said.
A second suspect accompanying Monu allegedly escaped, taking advantage of the darkness. Police teams are conducting a combing operation to trace him, Singh said.
Special Operations Group (SOG) sub-inspector Sandeep Kumar and constable Narendra Kumar sustained bullet injuries during the exchange of fire, an officer said, adding that inspectors Shailendra Kumar from Sikandrabad and Dharmendra Sharma from Gulawathi were hit by bullets on their bulletproof jackets and escaped unhurt.
Police recovered a pistol, two magazines, cartridges and the motorcycle without a number plate from the encounter site.
Police said CCTV footage from the area showed the accused taking the girl away. The footage helped investigators identify Monu and led to the formation of teams to track him down.
After the recovery of the girl’s body, SSP Dinesh Kumar Singh and local MLA Lakshmi Raj Singh visited the victim’s family and assured them that the accused would be arrested at the earliest.
