Lucknow/Hapur:

More than a week after a six-year-old girl in western Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur was kidnapped and raped, the accused has been arrested by the state police. During investigation, the police claimed, he allegedly snatched a gun from a police personnel and was injured in retaliatory firing.

“Dalpat was taken to the site of the crime for investigation where he snatched a policeman’s pistol and tried to fire at them. In retaliatory firing, he was hit on the leg and has been admitted to a hospital,” Hapur police chief Sanjeev Suman said.

A photo of the accused, Dalpat, was released earlier this week, days after three sketches – based on the statements of the girl’s parents and neighbours – were made public.

The police had announced a reward of Rs. 50,000 or any information about the man. He tried to mislead the police by leaving some clothes and a ‘suicide note’ next to a river yesterday. In the note, the man said he was taking his life because he did not want to die in a police encounter.

The police had launched multiple search operations in Hapur and neighbouring districts in the past week to look for Dalpat.

The girl, who has multiple injuries, is being treated at a hospital in Meerut.

The girl was kidnapped from outside her home in the Garh Mukhteshwar area, less than 100 km from Delhi, last week on Thursday reportedly by the man on a motorcycle.

When her parents reported her missing, the police launched a search for her. She was found the next morning, unconscious and soaked in blood, behind bushes not far from her village.

A medical examination confirmed rape. The girl was rushed to a specialised hospital in Meerut and has been through at least one surgery. Doctors say she is stable but not out of danger.

The incident in Hapur took place days after a 12-year-old girl’s assault in Delhi. The girl, tortured and brutalised with scissors by her attacker, is at the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi. The man who is believed to have assaulted her inside her home has been arrested.