Ritesh Kumar (35), a migrant worker from Patna in Bihar, who is accused of rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Hubbali, was killed in a police encounter on Sunday evening.
The Ashok Nagar police in Hubballi formed five teams to track down the accused after the girl's parents informed them that their daughter was missing. After a thorough search, her body was recovered from a dilapidated toilet in the neighbourhood on Sunday morning.
Karnataka: In Hubballi, a 35-year-old man named Ritesh Kumar from Bihar, accused of abducting, raping and murdering a 5-year-old girl, was killed in a police encounter after attempting to escape. Three police officers were injured during the incident pic.twitter.com/S3Vx73zump
— IANS (@ians_india) April 13, 2025
It was suspected that the child had been abducted by an unidentified man probably when the mother, a house help, was at work. The accused had lured the girl when she was playing inside the compound of the house where her mother was working. She was taken to an abandoned toilet, where she was sexually assaulted and killed by strangulation.
The accused of 5 yrs old baby kidnapper & killer (alleged rapist) has been killed in the encounter.
— Karnataka Portfolio (@karnatakaportf) April 13, 2025
ಹುಬ್ಬಳ್ಳಿಯ 5 ವರ್ಷದ ಬಾಲಕಿಯನ್ನ ಕಿಡ್ನಾಪ್ ಮಾಡಿ ಕೊಂದ ಆರೋಪಿಯನ್ನ(ರೇಪ್ ಶಂಕಿತ )ಎನ್ಕೌಂಟರ್ ಮಾಡಲಾಗಿದೆ
Justice delivered ✅#bengaluru #bangalore #Hubballi #dharwad @compolhdc @BlrCityPolice… pic.twitter.com/rg4X6n8Fun
The girl's body was shifted to the Karnataka Medical College and Research Centre Hospital.
Hubballi-Dharward police commissioner N. Shashi Kumar stated that the incident took place around 10.40 am on Sunday in a shed near Vijayanagar.
"We also filed a POCSO case as the CCTV footage that recorded the kidnap showed inappropriate behaviour by the man. We tracked down the accused following leads given to us by the locals. He told us he was away from home for the past few years and was doing odd jobs for a living and had come to Hubballi three months back,” said the commissioner.
However, the accused did not divulge his identity during interrogation. “So, we took him to his house, an abandoned house near the Tarihal underpass to ascertain his identity. But once the police reached the spot, he started throwing stones at our personnel and the vehicle. At least three policemen were injured. In self-defence, our PSI Annapurna opened fire in the air to warn him. But he tried to escape and the PSI shot at him. He was hit near the chest and though we rushed him to the hospital, he was declared dead," informed the commissioner.
Earlier, the locals had staged a massive protest in front of the police station demanding the immediate arrest and death penalty for the suspect. They also demanded that the migrant labourers be thrown out of the twin cities as they were indulging in serious crimes like rape and dacoity.
