Delhi: 32-year-old neighbour kidnaps, kills 3-year-old girl; held

A threeyearold girl was allegedly kidnapped and killed by her 32yearold neighbour in southwest Delhi the police said on Friday reported the PTIThe girls body was found in a drain and the accused was arrested after a brief exchange of fire an official saidAccording to police the incident occurred on Wednesday evening when the victims family reported the kidnapping of their daughter from the Kapashera area in DelhiA police team was sent to the spot immediately The victims mother told police that they have been staying here in a rented accommodation for the last five years Deputy Commissioner of Police southwest Rohit Meena said according to the PTIShe told us that her daughter was playing outside of the house and at around 6 pm her daughter was kidnapped by a neighbour the DCP saidOn her complaint an FIR was lodged by the police and a massive search operation was launched by a team of police officials to trace the girl and the suspectThe police while examining the CCTV footage spotted the suspect and the child an official saidIn one of the CCTV camera footage the accused was seen with the girl going towards a drain at around 705 pm In the same camera he was found returning alone without the girl at around 725 pm DCP Meena said as per the PTIThe accused who was identified as Anil 34 was traced and detained at about 1155 pm the same day from a bus heading towards Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh he saidHe was interrogated and initially denied having played any role whatsoever in the kidnapping But during sustained interrogation he broke down and admitted to having killed and dumped the girl in a marshy drain located at the border of Gurgaon and Kapashera DCP said as per the PTIThe police said that Anil then led the team to the drain where they launched a search operation he saidThe crime and Forensic Science Laboratory FSL teams were also called to the spot he saidAfter a long search operation lasting more than an hour in the dark the girls body was finally found dumped in the marshy drain he addedAt that moment the accused sensed an opportunity to escape He grabbed the loaded service revolver of a police officer tried to escape from custody and fired at the team The police fired in selfdefence and hit him He was immediately rushed to Indira Gandhi Hospital Meena saidThe body was examined by the FSL and crime team The accused was arrested and is now in judicial custody The body was sent for postmortem Meena saidPolice are probing all angles including if the girl was sexually exploited DCP Meena addedwith PTI inputs