Vadodara: A 24-year-old man arrested for the alleged rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in Shinor taluka suffered a bullet injury in the leg after he allegedly attempted to escape from police custody on Tuesday night.The accused, Ajay Rathodia, was being taken to the crime scene in Segva village as part of the investigation. According to police, while the team was returning to Shinor police station, Rathodia lunged at a sub-inspector and tried to snatch his service revolver inside the police vehicle.As the officers attempted to restrain him and prevent him from gaining control of the weapon, a struggle broke out. During the tussle, the trigger was inadvertently pressed and a bullet was discharged. The bullet pierced the vehicle’s windscreen, but no one was injured.“The policemen then tried to secure the revolver and pin down Rathodia’s hand. During this process, the weapon discharged a second time and the bullet struck Rathodia in the leg,” said Sushil Agrawal, DSP (Rural).Police alerted the 108 emergency service and took Rathodia to a hospital for treatment.“We have registered a separate FIR against Rathodia for assaulting police personnel, obstructing a public servant in the discharge of duty and attempting to escape from lawful custody,” Agrawal said.Rathodia was arrested on June 17 after investigators linked him to the murder of a four-year-old girl from Satishana village in Shinor taluka.According to police, the crime occurred on June 15 when the girl was sleeping outside her house with her grandfather. Rathodia allegedly abducted the child while she was asleep and took her to the outskirts of the village, where he strangled her with a rope.Police said he then packed the body in a plastic sack along with stones, transported it on his motorcycle and dumped it in a canal near the village. Meanwhile, the girl’s parents lodged a missing-person complaint at Shinor police station.During the investigation, police received information that Rathodia was previously involved in a relationship with the victim’s mother. Investigators subsequently examined his background and movements around the time of the girl’s disappearance. He was detained for questioning on June 17 and allegedly confessed to the crime, following which he was arrested.According to police, Rathodia told investigators that he committed the murder to take revenge on the girl’s mother after she stopped communicating with him.
