Varanasi: A man accused of kidnapping a 16-year-old deaf & mute girl on Aug 1 was arrested after exchange of fire with Muhammadabad and Nonahra police personnel near Ghauspur airstrip under the limits of Muhamdabad police station in Ghazipur district in the wee-hours of Monday.After taking stock of the incident site, Ghazipur CO (Muhammadabad) Sudhakar Pandey said that during night patrolling on Sunday night, Mohammadabad police were alerted by informers regarding movement of persons involved in kidnapping the deaf & mute girl between Tiwaripur and Gauspur when they moved towards the area and also alerted Nonahra police.On spotting two motorcycle-borne persons, policemen signalled them to stop but they sped towards Kathwa Mod, said Pandey. When the motorcycle-borne persons found themselves surrounded by police near Ghauspur airstrip, they opened fire at the police team in their bid to escape. When police fired back, one of them sustained a bullet injury in his leg and was caught. His accomplice managed to escape.After recovering a country-made pistol, cartridges and a motorcycle police rushed the injured criminal, Vijayi, 34, of Badhaipura in Mohammadabad, to hospital. Pandey said the teams intensified efforts to nab the accomplice of Vijayi, who managed to abscond.On Aug 1, the minor deaf & mute girl was grazing her goats near the Greenfield Expressway in Barji village when Vijayi and his accomplice had kidnapped her. Using CCTV footage and surveillance, police rescued the kidnapped girl within 30 hours from a house in Pahunta village of Saidpur. An accomplice of kidnappers Rukma Devi was arrested for harboring the kidnappers.
