Ghaziabad:
Police arrested a 19-year-old man in the early hours of Sunday for allegedly abducting a seven-year-old girl from her house in Indirapuram and raping her around two days prior, officials said.
Police said the suspect was a homeless man from Ghaziabad who had come to the city from Farrukkhabad in Uttar Pradesh a year-and-a-half ago.
Officials said the suspect picked up the girl on Thursday and took her to a nearby park. “There, he raped her and threatened her against telling anyone about the crime. About an hour later, he abandoned the girl in a lane near her house and fled. Police have CCTV footage of him heading to the park with the girl and returning with her,” Abhishek Srivastava, assistant commissioner of police (Indirapuram circle) said.
“On Sunday (around 1am), police asked a suspected man to stop for checking near Green Valley (green belt) in Indirapuram. However, the man entered the green belt and opened fire at the police. Police returned the fire, and the suspect sustained a gunshot to each of his legs. During interrogation, he revealed that on April 16 around 1.30am, he entered the girl’s house, and stole ₹11,000 and a phone before noticing the sleeping girl,” the ACP added.
He told police during investigation that on early Sunday he was looking to carry out another theft before police intercepted him near the Green Valley, police said in a statement.
Police recovered an illegal weapon, a live cartridge, and cash of ₹10,000 from his possession that he stole from the girl’s house.
On April 16, following a complaint by the girl’s father, police registered an FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 64 (rape) and also levied provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Posco) Act at the Indirapuram police station. Officials said the suspect will also face BNS sections for attempted murder and provisions of the Arms Act for firing at the police.