Lucknow: The body of an 11-year-old girl who went missing while playing outside her home on Thursday night was recovered from a well in Palpur village of Barabanki’s Haidergarh district on Friday.Police suspect the girl was sexually assaulted and strangled and her body dumped into the well. The girl’s father had lodged a complaint stating she was abducted and named a local man, Uttam, as a suspect.Police reached Uttam’s house but he was found missing, strengthening suspicion. Barabanki SP Raveena Tyagi formed five teams and deployed a separate surveillance unit to trace the child and the suspect.During the operation, the girl’s body was recovered from the well. Police later received information that the suspect was near Pokhara village and moved to nab him. According to police, when officers attempted to surround and arrest him, he tried to flee, leading to an encounter in which he sustained a bullet injury to his leg. He was taken into custody and arrested after preliminary medical treatment.Tyagi said the body has been sent for postmortem by a panel of doctors under videography to determine the cause of death and assess signs of sexual assault. Police said the accused has prior cases registered against him under the NDPS Act and for theft.
