Noida rape accused killed in police encounter after firing

A 40-year-old man accused of abducting and raping a six-year-old girl was killed in an encounter with Noida Police on Saturday after he allegedly opened fire at a police team, officials said.

The girl had gone missing from her home on Friday night, following which her family lodged a missing-person complaint at the Ecotech 3 police station in Central Noida.

Swatantra Kumar Singh, Additional DCP, Central Noida, told PTI that police formed five teams to search for the child after receiving the complaint.

“Through CCTV footage and other sources, the police teams identified Balraj (40) as the person who had abducted the child. After raping her, he had stuffed her body into a sack and discarded it,” Singh said.

A panel of doctors conducted the post-mortem examination, which confirmed that the child had been raped, he said.

“On Saturday, police took the accused into custody and during interrogation, he took the police to the spot where he had hidden the body. The police took him to the location to recover the weapon,” the ADCP said.

According to police, Balraj opened fire at the police team with an intent to kill, injuring a constable.

“In retaliation, the police fired back, hitting Balraj,” Singh said.

The accused was taken to the district hospital in Noida in critical condition, where he died during treatment, police said. Further investigation is underway, officials said.