HUBBALLI, 13 APRIL

A man who allegedly kidnapped and killed a five-year-old girl in Hubballi was killed in an encounter with the police on Sunday. A policeman was injured during the operation.

The girl was allegedly kidnapped and killed by 35-year-old Nitesh Kumar on Sunday, police said. The incident occurred at the Ashok Nagar police station limits here and the body was found in an abandoned building, they said.

The accused, a resident of Bihar’s Patna attacked a police team after they caught him, and despite firing a warning shot, he tried to run away, officials said.

The man also faced a case of rape along with murder under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Outraged by the girl’s murder, a large number of residents of the locality gathered in front of Ashok Nagar police station and protested.

The victim's family hails from Koppal. Her mother worked as a housemaid and as an assistant at a beauty parlour, while her father worked as a painter, he said.

"The mother had taken the girl along with her to a house in the locality, where she was working. An unidentified man had taken the girl from there. On searching, she was found dead inside the toilet in a small sheet-roofed building in front of the house. She was rushed to hospital but was declared brought dead," he said, adding that police are checking CCTV footage from the locality to identify the culprit. Agencies