ROURKELA: In a shocking incident, a jail-returned criminal on Monday night attempted to set the house of a minor girl afire after his failed rape bid was reported to police in Talsara under Sundargarh district.
The arson attempt, however, failed. The incident took place at a remote village under Balishankara block bordering Simdega district of Jharkhand. The region had previously witnessed the menace unleashed by Jharkhand-based criminal outfit Pahadi Cheetah. Accused Mukesh Singh, in his late-thirties, was actively associated with the criminal outfit, police said.
Around 11 pm on Sunday, Singh sneaked into the house of the 13-year-old girl and grabbed her. When she screamed, her parents woke up and rushed to her for help. Singh fled the place but not before warning the victim’s family of dire consequences if they complained to the police.
The victim’s father on Monday lodged a complaint with Talsara police. When the information reached him, Singh reportedly tried to set the victim’s house afire by hurling burning balls of gunny bags at their house.
However, the fire failed to spread and died down.
Inspector-in-charge of Talsara police station Pushpendra Sagar on Tuesday confirmed receiving a complaint. He said Singh is at large and efforts are underway to arrest him. Possible involvement of more persons is also under verification.
Sagar said the Singh has a criminal history and was sent to jail in January in a pending extortion case. He had later come out of jail on bail.