A Hyderabad man accused of raping and then murdering a six-year-old was found dead on the railway tracks Thursday. The Telangana police chief confirmed the death, sharing images on Twitter. This news comes two days after the state’s labour minister said that the accused will be killed in an encounter.
“The accused of “Child Sexual Molestation and murder @ Singareni Colony, found dead on the railway track, in the limits of #StationGhanpurPoliceStation. Declared after the verification of identification marks on deceased body,” Telangana Director General of Police M Mahendar Reddy tweeted.
A senior police official from Janagaon said the body with head injuries was found on the track in Station Ghanpur and the police reached the spot after some locals noticed a body on the track at around 9.45 AM.
The police suspect that the accused must have committed suicide by jumping before a running train, the official said.
On Tuesday a Telangana minister had threatened the accused of an encounter.
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“We will catch the rapist and murderer. There will be an encounter after he is caught,” Malla Reddy had told reporters in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Releasing a photo of the suspect, Pallakonda Raju, the police had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh.
The girl went missing from her home in Singareni Colony on September 9. Her body was found inside Raju’s house on Sunday. An autopsy confirmed that she was sexually assaulted and strangled.
First reports said that Raju was arrested. However, after the information was found to be false, protests broke in the area.
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“Would like to correct my tweet below. I was misinformed that he was arrested. Regret the erroneous statement. The perpetrator is absconding and Hyderabad police has launched a massive manhunt for him. Let’s all make our best efforts to ensure he’s nabbed and brought to justice quickly,” Minister KT Rama Rao posted, with a screenshot of his earlier tweet.
