Man accused of raping teenage girl 'kills self' during chase, claims police in MP's Chhatarpur

Chhatarpur (MP): A 24-year-old man on the run after he allegedly killed the grandfather of a 17-year-old rape survivor in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district "shot himself dead" on Tuesday amid a police chase and shootout, an official said.

A day before, Bhola Ahirwar had allegedly barged into the girl's house in Mohara village and opened fire, killing her grandfather and leaving the victim and her uncle injured, police said.

"Police had fanned out teams to nab Ahirwar. At around 4 AM on Tuesday, police received the information about Ahirwar's presence in Siddh Baba Pahadi area (near Chhatarpur)," Sagar zone's Inspector General of Police, Pramod Verma, told reporters.

Police teams traced Ahirwar to a hillock at around 9 AM on Tuesday and asked him to surrender, but he fired two rounds at police, the IG said, adding that the police fired four rounds in retaliation.

"Realising that he was surrounded by police, the accused shot himself dead using his country-made pistol," Verma claimed, adding that the incident will be probed.

According to Verma, Ahirwar had posted a message on Facebook, though suicide was not mentioned.

"The investigation will cover all angles," he added.

In the Facebook post, the accused claimed he was implicated in the rape case and accused police officials of taking money for framing him.

Ahirwar had barged into the complainant's house a day earlier, prima facie, to arrive at a compromise in connection with the (rape) case registered earlier, police had said.

Police had booked Ahirwar after the girl lodged a case of sexual assault against him two months back.