HUBBALLI: Residents of a locality in Hubballi claimed that they had seen Ritesh Kumar a few days before he raped and murdered a five-year-old girl in their layout. The residents of Shreya Nagar claimed that Ritesh was seen twice in their area, and once he was accompanied by another man.
Ritesh, 35, was shot dead by the police the same evening he committed the crime on April 13 when he tried to escape from the police.
A resident from Shreya Nagar said Ritesh was seen suspiciously looking inside a house gate where children were playing. “It was afternoon and I had returned home for lunch. I saw a man looking inside the gate where many children were playing. I asked what he wanted and why was he peeping inside. He replied in Hindi saying he wanted a job. I told him to go away and look for a job in factories and not homes. I also took a photo of him,” he said.
Shreya Nagar has been witnessing a series of house thefts since the Varamahalakshmi festival. The residents are vigilant and record anything that they find suspicious.
Another resident said she remembers seeing Ritesh along with another person on Shreya Nagar main road. “I remember their faces as they were throwing stones at stray dogs here. When the duo saw a group of women walking, they stopped throwing stones and left the place,” she said.
On Wednesday, the Hubballi-Dharwad police released a photograph of Ritesh. After the photo went viral, the residents could recall that they had seen him in their layout. “He looked mentally ill and was not answering my questions properly. When I took his photo from my mobile, he left the area,” the resident added.
As per Ritesh’s statement , he belonged to Patna in Bihar. He claimed to be living in an abandoned house near Tarihal Industrial Area in Hubballi.