Girl raped, accused held after gunfight in Greater Noida

NOIDA: A 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a man in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida and the accused arrested after a gunfight with police personnel, officials said on Thursday.
The incident took place under the Ecotech 3 police station area on Tuesday afternoon after which an FIR was lodged, and the accused was identified and nabbed on Wednesday, the officials said.
"The case was challenging as the accused was wearing a face mask at the time of the crime and there was no eyewitness of the incident. The victim too had seen the accused for the first time. Police teams swung into action and the accused was identified," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Women Safety) Vrinda Shukla said.
"When a police team reached the location of the accused, he tried to run away from the spot. He also opened fire on the team in his bid to escape but was overpowered and caught," Shukla said.
The officer said she met the minor girl, whose parents are daily wage earners. She was in a stable condition and getting adequate medical care. Further legal proceedings in the case are underway, Shukla added.
Meanwhile, the Gautam Buddh Nagar police arrested five other men allegedly involved in separate cases of rape, sodomy and rape attempt on minors in the district.
In Greater Noida's Badalpur area, a 15-year-old girl who had gone out of the village for some work met three men, all aged around 20, who told her that they would drop her home.
However, they took her to a desolate spot and one of them raped her. The incident took place on Tuesday evening.
"Two of the accused were arrested on Wednesday and the third person involved in the case was held Thursday. The trio - all acquaintances of the girl from her village -- has been sent to jail," a local official told .
A 19-year-old man was also arrested on Thursday for allegedly sodomising a 14-year-old boy in the Dankaur area on Sunday, according to officials.
The accused, booked under IPC Section 377 (unnatural sex) and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, was known to the family of the victim and frequently visited their house, they said.
In another case, a 21-year-old worker was arrested on Thursday by Noida's Sector 24 police for alleged attempt to rape a minor on Wednesday. The FIR was lodged last night and the accused, who hails from Moradabad but lives here in Nithari, was held near Morna bus stand, a local policeman said.
He has been booked under IPC 354G (assault with intent to outrage modesty), as well as under the POCSO Act, the official added.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)