Two men accused of raping minor girls were shot by police when they allegedly attempted to flee from custody, police said on Wednesday.
🗞️ Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis 🗞️
Speaking to reporters, the police said in the first incident, a 38-year-old man, accused of raping and murdering a 7-year-old girl, was killed after he sustained bullet wounds from police firing as the latter tried to restrain him when he fled police custody at Mazbat area of Udalguri district. On March 10, the minor was raped by the man and subsequently a complaint was registered.
Udalguri Additional Superintendent of Police Bidyut Das Boro said the accused was apprehended yesterday (Tuesday) from his hideout in an iron factory near Baihata. He was charged with rape, murder and section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the police said.
According to police, the encounter happened at 2:30 am on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday when the accused was being taken to the alleged crime scene.
“After confessing to his crime, he took the investigating officer concerned to the crime scene. While returning, he attempted to flee from the police jeep by injuring one constable. When he was ordered to stop, he did not pay heed to it. Police had to resort to firing to stop him. He was injured and was shifted to the nearest hospital where he was declared brought dead by the doctor,” the officer said.
In a similar incident on Tuesday night, police shot another gangrape accused while he was allegedly trying to flee from custody near Guwahati when he was being taken to the crime scene for further investigation.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Guwahati deputy commissioner of Police (West) Nabaneet Mahanta said out of five accused persons in the case, the prime accused was arrested on Tuesday.
On February 16, a 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped by the two accused near her house. One of the accused persons videographed the incident. Later, the accused asked the girl to come and meet them and assured her that they would delete the video, when she was again sexually assaulted by five people. On March 8, a complaint was registered and seven persons related to the case were arrested. The prime accused was apprehended on Tuesday from Dampur in Kamrup district, police said.
“He disclosed locations, where his other accomplices were hiding. When we went at one of the locations, he snatched a service pistol from a lady officer and tried to escape. When asked to stop, he fired at a lady police official, who sustained injuries. The police fired back in self defence in which the accused sustained injuries and was declared brought dead after we took him to a hospital,” the officer said.
The Police are trying to nab the other accused persons.
An official from the Guwahati Medical College said that the rape accused was brought to the hospital late night yesterday (Tuesday) and was declared brought dead. He had four injury marks on his body…
Asked about the bullet wounds, the official said these would be examined during post-mortem examination.