LUCKNOW: A 29-year-old man accused of abducting, sexually assaulting and murdering a seven-year-old boy after demanding ransom was killed in a police encounter in Hardoi district on Wednesday, police officials said.The accused, Mahnoor alias Shahnoor alias Mehnuddin, carried a reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest and was wanted in connection with the sensational kidnapping and murder case that had triggered outrage in the district over the past three days.According to police, the encounter took place around 3 am near Babatmau area, nearly 50 kilometres from Hardoi city, during a checking operation launched to trace the absconding accused.Police said a suspicious motorcycle rider was spotted near the area and signalled to stop. However, the suspect allegedly tried to flee and opened fire at the police team. In retaliatory firing, Mahnoor sustained a bullet injury to his chest.He was rushed to the district hospital, where doctors declared him dead.During the exchange of fire, SOG in-charge Rajesh Kumar was also hit by a bullet fired by the accused. He was admitted to a medical college hospital and is undergoing treatment, police said.The case pertains to the kidnapping of a seven-year-old boy from Mallawan police station area on May 3.SP, Hardoi, Ashok Meena, said the victim, son of a hafiz associated with a local mosque, had gone to an Urs fair near his village after taking Rs 20 from his grandfather. “When he did not return till late evening, the family launched a search but could not trace him. A missing complaint was lodged with police the same day,” said Meena. Soon after, the child’s father allegedly received a phone call from unidentified persons claiming that the boy had been kidnapped. The callers demanded Rs 7 lakh as ransom for his release.To confirm the UPI number, the accused allegedly made the father transfer Rs 100 online before asking him to arrange the remaining amount, SP Hardoi, Ashok Meena added. Family members sought time to arrange the money but later informed police and reportedly refused to pay the ransom amount.During preliminary investigation and interrogation of arrested accused, police came to suspect that the kidnappers sexually assaulted the child and later murdered him fearing arrest after the family informed police about the ransom calls.Investigators said the accused buried the body in a pit inside a maize field located behind a madrasa, nearly 500 metres from the victim’s house.Police teams traced the ransom call number to Kanpur and conducted raids there. Two accused persons were arrested on Tuesday, officials said.Based on their interrogation and identification, police recovered the child’s body on May 5 at around 3.30 pm after digging up the field where it had been buried.During questioning, the arrested accused revealed the role of Mahnoor, a resident of Kannauj district, following which police declared a cash reward on him and intensified search operations.Police said Mahnoor was a history-sheeter with at least 12 criminal cases registered against him. He frequently changed identities to evade arrest and operated under multiple aliases, including Shahnoor and Mehnuddin.Officials said he had been absconding since the child’s murder and was attempting to escape when intercepted by police during the checking drive.The victim studied in UKG at a local Anganwadi centre and was the youngest among siblings, including two brothers and a younger sister.Family members alleged that despite informing police about the kidnapping and ransom demand in time, prompt action was not taken initially.According to relatives, police limited themselves to procedural formalities in the early stages of the investigation, which delayed rescue efforts.The Hardoi encounter is the second high-profile police encounter reported in Uttar Pradesh within three days.On Monday, Ambedkar Nagar police killed 20-year-old Aamir in an encounter. He was accused of murdering a woman and her four children allegedly after she refused to marry him and transfer property in his name, police had said.
