Noida: The main accused in the murder and alleged sexual assault of a six-year-old girl in Greater Noida last Friday was arrested in 2017 after he allegedly sodomised and killed a nine-year-old boy, and months before that, raped and murdered a 70-year-old woman, an investigation into his background has revealed.Balraj was shot dead in a police encounter on Aug 29, allegedly after he tried to fire at police personnel when they took him to the crime scene to recover the knife with which he killed the girl.The 2017 arrest wasn’t his first one. Balraj had been convicted in a 2006 culpable homicide case in 2011 and was in jail till 2014. After his 2017 arrest, he spent eight years in jail before getting bail in 2025. Soon after, he found a job as a caretaker of cattle at a house in Greater Noida, where he befriended the six-year-old girl’s family, who were neighbours.On Aug 28, when the girl disappeared while playing outside her home, her family, including her father, a confectioner, her mother and siblings, searched for her in vain. A breakthrough came after CCTV footage showed Balraj taking her into a house and later emerging with a sack.After his arrest, Balraj told cops that he killed the girl because she was “shouting in pain”. He later stuffed her body in a sack and dumped it by a pond. As he led a police team from Ecotech III to a green belt near D-Park police post to retrieve the knife he used in the murder, Balraj allegedly retrieved a hidden pistol and opened fire, injuring head constable Ravi Kumar. Police retaliated, and Balraj was shot. He succumbed during treatment.
Balraj allegedly retrieved a hidden pistol and opened fire, injuring head constable Ravi Kumar
After an autopsy confirmed sexual assault, an FIR was filed against Balraj under BNS sections 137(2) (kidnapping), 3(5) common intention, 103(1) (murder), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence), 65(2) (rape against a female child who is under 12 years of age) and Sections 5(n)/6 of the Pocso Act.Police have since made a second arrest in the case, that of Tausif, owner of the house where the crime took place, arrested by Ecotech-3 police. Additional DCP (Central Zone) Swatantra Kumar Singh said Balraj had deliberately taken the girl to Tausif’s house, a man he befriended in jail and would do odd jobs for over the past six months. Though Tausif was not home on the day of the incident, he was arrested on Tuesday under BNS Section 3(5) (common intention).Originally from Bulandshahr, Balraj had been on police radar for years. His first major brush with the law, according to police records, came in 2006, when he was arrested in Loni, Ghaziabad, on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. In 2011, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with time already spent in custody since his 2006 arrest adjusted against the sentence.After his release in 2014, Balraj allegedly returned to crime. That year, he faced theft-related charges in Surajpur, Dankaur and Sector 20, followed by another theft case in Surajpur in 2016. Some of the cases since 2006 also involved charges under the Arms Act, police said.In 2017, the nature of his criminal activities changed. Balraj allegedly raped and murdered a 70-year-old woman in Tilpata village. Around the same period, he was also accused of sodomising and killing a nine-year-old boy near Sheorajpur.A police officer described Balraj as a “serial rapist” who allegedly chose victims unable to defend themselves. He is also accused of assaulting animals.Police said Balraj is survived by two brothers, who have long disowned him after he misbehaved with one of his sisters-in-law.
