A 40-year-old man allegedly raped and murdered a 6-year-old girl in Haldoni village of Greater Noida on Saturday noon, the police said, adding that the accused was shot dead during an encounter with them while the crime scene was being recreated. 

As per police, the girl went missing on Friday noon, and the police identified two suspects. A 40-year-old man emerged as the key accused, and police said they suspect the girl was first abducted and was later sexually assaulted at the house of the second suspect. 

The cops are probing the role of a family member of the victim girl, who is a distant relative of her. According to locals, the accused was a tenant of the girl’s uncle. 

Girl’s body found near village pond

The investigating police personnel said the girl’s body was discovered from an area near a pond in the village on Saturday morning. In the aftermath of the incident, the village’s residents congregated on the main road of the village and hailed slogans. 

On Friday night, the girl’s family members, who run a sweetmeat shop in the village, lodged a missing person’s complaint at the Ecotech-3 police station. 

Senior cops weigh in on the case

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida), Shailendra Kumar Singh told the media that the police sprung into action, immediately registered a case, and five police teams were constituted to trace the girl. After an intensive search operation, the minor girl’s body was recovered nearby, he added. 

Key accused identified by means of CCTV footage

According to police, they furnished information about the suspects by means of their sources and by sifting through the CCTV footage. The key accused was taken into custody on Saturday noon, who told the police that he had hidden the weapon used in the crime in the bushes near the D-Park police outpost, but when he was taken to the area, he pushed the cops present at the scene and fired at them with a pistol he had hidden there.

DCP Singh said, “One policeman was injured in the firing. In retaliatory firing in self-defence, the accused was also injured. The police immediately rushed the accused and the injured constable to the hospital for treatment. During treatment, doctors declared the accused dead, while the injured constable is undergoing treatment.” 

Girl’s body sent for autopsy

Following the encounter of the accused, the police sent the girl’s body to a morgue for an autopsy, and a panel of doctors has been formed to conduct the post-mortem, which shall be videographed, the police said. A case has been registered under Sections 65 (rape) and 103 (murder) of the BNS, along with relevant provisions of the POCSO Act, as per police.