UP Man Kills 4-Year-Old Neighbour, Arrested After Encounter

A man accused of killing a 4-year-old girl in the Nandgram area here was arrested after an encounter in the early hours of Wednesday, officials said.

The police arrested Gaurav Prajapati, 24, at around 3 am and recovered a country-made pistol, two used cartridges and one live cartridge from him, Nandgram Assistant Commissioner of Police Ziauddin Ahmed told PTI.

The post-mortem report of the girl is awaited, with doctors observing multiple pellet wounds suspected to be from a 12-bore firearm, the ACP added.

According to officials, Nandgram police station received information at around 9 pm on Monday about a child lying injured in a field, who was taken to a nearby hospital by her parents, where she succumbed to her injuries.

The child's family informed the police that their neighbour, Prajapati, had taken the child away with him on Monday evening under the pretext of buying her toffees, after which she did not return.

Acting on the family's statement, the police had detained Prajapati, who, during the interrogation, allegedly confessed to the crime, they added.

According to the police, during the recovery operation, Prajapati allegedly opened fire at the police team with the firearm, which he had concealed behind bushes after committing the crime, they said.

After police retaliated in self-defence, Prajapati sustained bullet injuries in both legs, following which he was admitted to a hospital, the officials said.

Based on the complaint received from the family, a case has been registered against the accused under Sections 103 (1) (murder) and 238(A) (destroying evidence, giving false information) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, they said.

Provisions of the POCSO Act and rape charges will be added if sexual assault is confirmed, along with relevant sections of the SC/ST Act, they said. 

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