Man held for raping minor in Madhya Pradesh after six-day manhunt; shot while trying to flee custody

A 23-year-old man, accused of raping a six-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen district, was arrested after a manhunt of more than six days and protests in the area, police said on Friday.

According to the police, the accused, identified as Salman, was held from Bhopal’s Gandhinagar area late on Thursday night after a group of youths spotted him in the area and alerted the police. Later, Salman was shot in the leg after he allegedly tried to escape from police custody when he was being taken to Raisen.

Raisen Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Gupta, who assumed charge on Wednesday, told The Hindu that the accused was spotted at a tea stall around 11 p.m. and that a group of locals surrounded him and informed the local police. The police had declared a reward of Rs. 30,000 for information leading to his arrest.

Salman, a native of Sehore district, is accused of abducting the minor girl when she was playing in her neighbourhood in Paanjara village under Gauharganj police station area and raping her.

After the accused fled and left her in a nearby forest, the girl returned to the village and was taken to a nearby government hospital. She was immediately referred to AIIMS Bhopal, where she is currently receiving treatment.

The rape incident and the delay in the accused’s arrest led to massive outrage and protests from locals and right-wing outfits in Raisen and nearby districts. On Monday, protestors blockaded the NH-45 between Bhopal and Raisen for hours, leading to massive traffic jams in the area. The outrage prompted Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to hold a meeting with top police officials at the police headquarters in Bhopal on Tuesday night. After the meeting, the then Raisen Superintendent of Police Pankaj Kumar Pandey was transferred. A police station in-charge was also suspended for mishandling of the highway protests.

Mr. Gupta said, “Acting on a tip, our special teams that had been formed to trace the accused nabbed him. When they were bringing him to Gauharganj, a police car got a flat tyre. He snatched the gun of a sub-inspector and tried to jump from the car near Kiratnagar village. He opened fire on the police team and was shot in the leg when the police did retaliatory firing in self-defence.”

“He was seriously injured and is currently admitted at the Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal. We will interrogate him and make a trail of the places he went to in the past six days,” he said, adding that the arrest has significantly eased the tensions in the area.

“The girl is now stable and her condition is improving,” Mr. Gupta said.

Reacting to the arrest, Mr. Yadav said that anybody who takes law in their hands will not be spared in his government.

“Since its inception, our government has established its identity that it is known for good governance, and everyone should live their lives in their own way, in harmony with the governance system. But those who do not believe in the system, the government knows how to deal with them and can prevent them under the relevant legal provisions,” Mr. Yadav said, speaking to reporters.

“Our police will not let him go, and we would not tolerate even the slightest laxity. The way the police caught him in a brief encounter while he was fleeing, it is certain that no one can escape our clutches,” he added.

Earlier, during the meeting with police officials, Mr. Yadav had expressed his displeasure over the handling of the case as well as over the police’s “lax response” to deal with the highway blockade, while directing officers to increase their presence on the ground and improve accountability.

The efforts to nab the accused involved more than 300 police personnel from multiple police stations, combing of forests in the region, searches using drones and dog squads, and raids at several locations in Raisen, Sehore, Bhopal and nearby districts.