AHMEDABAD: Suresh Vitthalbhai Parmar, the prime accused in the kidnapping, rape and brutal murder of a four-and-a-half-year-old girl in Vasad of Anand district of Gujarat, was shot dead by police late Sunday night after he allegedly attacked two policemen while being taken for investigation.
The incident occurred near the bridge between Asodar and Kanthariya when the Anand Local Crime Branch (LCB) team was bringing Parmar to Anand after his arrest by the Borsad Rural Police.
According to police, Parmar asked the escort team to stop the vehicle on the pretext of vomiting. The moment the vehicle halted, he allegedly pulled out a paddle hidden with him and launched a sudden attack on the police team.
Two police personnel, Mahipal Singh and Rajveer Singh, sustained serious injuries in the assault.
“PSI Rana repeatedly warned the accused to surrender and stop the attack. However, he became more violent and continued assaulting the police personnel. In self-defence, six rounds were fired from a government-issued Glock pistol,” a source said.
Parmar was hit by two bullets and was rushed to Shri Krishna Medical Hospital in Karamsad in a critical condition, where he later died during treatment.
Parmar’s body has been kept in the postmortem room of the medical hospital in Karamsad.
The forensic team reached the spot and seized six spent cartridges from the scene. Further investigation into the firing incident is underway.
The case had triggered widespread outrage across Gujarat after the mutilated body of the minor girl was found on railway tracks near Vasad Railway Station on Sunday morning.
The victim belonged to a working-class family that had been living in the passenger shed of the railway station after their hut collapsed due to heavy rains.
On Saturday night, the girl and her sister were sleeping in the shed. Their father had gone to watch television with a friend, while their mother had stepped out briefly to an egg cart outside the station.
Police said Parmar allegedly took advantage of the parents’ absence, lifted the child onto his shoulders and fled. When the mother returned, the girl was missing. The family searched through the night, but no trace of her was found.
At around 6.30 am on Sunday, a railway gateman informed the police about a child’s body lying on the tracks approximately 800 metres from the station.
The girl’s body, severed into three pieces, was found in a blood-soaked condition, sending shockwaves across Anand district. Her lehenga and the accused’s shoes were recovered from the scene.
A panel of doctors conducted the postmortem and confirmed that the child had been sexually assaulted before being killed.
Investigators believe the accused threw the girl onto the railway tracks in an attempt to destroy evidence after committing the crime. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team collected scientific evidence from the spot, while police registered a case of kidnapping, rape and murder against Parmar at Anand Rural Police Station.
The breakthrough came after investigators examined CCTV footage from the railway station. A suspicious man wearing a maroon shirt and blue jeans was seen carrying the girl on his shoulders at around 9.15 pm.
The same man was later spotted wandering near the Vasad railway gate in an intoxicated state around 10.45 pm. More than 10 special teams, including Railway Police, local police, LCB and SOG, were formed to trace the accused.
An intensive blockade and search operation was launched based on CCTV leads. Within hours, the Borsad Rural Police arrested Parmar from the outskirts of Bochasan. He was later handed over to the Anand LCB for further investigation.
No official press conference had been held by the police till the filing of this report, but initial reports indicated that the firing was carried out in self-defence after the accused allegedly attacked the escort team.