Greater Noida rape-murder main accused shot dead in police encounter while recreating crime scene

Hours after the body of a six-year-old girl, who was murdered after she was allegedly raped in Haldoni village of Greater Noida, police shot dead the main accused in the incident in an exchange of fire while recreating the sequence of events on Saturday afternoon, police officers aware of the matter said.The main accused in the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Greater Noida was shot dead by police (Hindustan Times/Representational image)The girl went missing on Friday around afternoon, and two suspects were identified by the police. The main accused was a 40-year-old man, police said, adding they suspect that the girl was abducted and sexually assaulted at the house of a second suspect. Police are investigating the role of an extended family member of the girl. Locals said the accused was a tenant of the girl’s uncle.“We believe the rape and murder took place at the house of the other suspect,” additional deputy commissioner of police (central Noida) Swatantra Kumar Singh told HT.Also read: 30-year-old man arrested for allegedly raping 11-year-old relative in Haryana's PalwalGirl’s body recovered near village pondPolice recovered the girl’s body from an area near a pond in the village on Saturday morning, officials said, following which residents gathered on the village’s main road and raised slogans.The girl’s family, who run a sweet shop in the village, filed a missing person’s complaint at the Ecotech-3 police station on Friday night.“A case was immediately registered, and five teams were formed to recover the girl. An intensive search operation was launched and the body of the minor girl was recovered nearby,” deputy commissioner of police (central Noida) Shailendra Kumar Singh said.Also read: Tripura hostel warden gets 20 years in jail for sexually assaulting minorCCTV, other inputs helped identify main accusedPolice said CCTV footage and information gathered from other sources helped them identify the main suspect, who was taken into custody for questioning on Saturday afternoon. The suspect allegedly told police that he had hidden the weapon used in the crime in bushes near the D-Park police outpost, but when he was taken to the area, he pushed the police personnel and opened fire at them with a pistol he had hidden there.“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,” DCP Singh said.The girl’s body was sent for a post-mortem examination, and a panel of doctors has been constituted to conduct the examination, which will be videographed, 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, police said.Meanwhile, CCTV camera footage purportedly showing the girl being followed by a man on Friday afternoon surfaced on social media. The man is also seen returning with a sack on his back. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.