3 days after 7yo’s body found in flour box, main accused shot dead in ‘encounter’

Agra: Three days after a seven-year-old girl was found murdered with her throat slit and the body stuffed in a flour storage box in her tenant's place in Agra allegedly over rent dues, the 35-year-old main accused was shot dead in a police encounter on Saturday. A sub-inspector (SI) was also injured in the incident.The Class 1 student went missing while playing near her house in the city's Tajganj area on March 24. The family approached police, and an FIR was registered initially under BNS section 137 (kidnapping) at Tajganj. BNS section 103 (murder) was added once the child's body was found.ACP (Taj security) Piyush Kant Rai told TOI: "Twelve teams were formed to find the girl. On March 25, they found her inside a flour container in the room of Sunil Kumar, 35, a tenant. Kumar used to live in the house owned by the girl's family. It was right in front of the girl's house, and she knew him."Police added Kumar, who worked at a shoe unit owned by the girl's father, tried to mislead the cops and the child's family. The girl's uncle said that Kumar had been living there for two years and often took her out. He added: "Kumar had not paid rent for five months, and the room was subsequently locked. The family also asked him to vacate."According to police, Kumar was slapped during an altercation over rent, which could have led to the incident. He later paid Rs 5,000 as part of the dues, and the room was recently unlocked.Early on Saturday, acting on a tip-off, police teams surrounded Kumar, who was carrying a reward of Rs 25,000.DCP (Agra city) Sayed Ali Abbas said, "Around 3am, Kumar was trying to flee to Firozabad. The area was cordoned off and when they tried to stop him, he opened fire in which an SI was hurt. In retaliatory fire, Kumar was injured. He was taken to hospital where he was declared dead."