Police foil murder accused's plan to flee custody in Meerut

Meerut (UP), Jul 13 (PTI) A man accused of killing minor boys here allegedly tried to flee from police custody when he was taken to the crime scene to recover evidence but was hit with bullets by police and caught again, officials said on Sunday.

The man is also accused of having attempted to sexually assault the two boys from his locality before killing them. Both alleged murders happened in the last three months in Meerut district, they said.

Asad, who is in his 20s, was taken to the Nagla Order forest area based on information on the crimes he provided to the police.

He first took out a pair of blue pants that belonged to one of the deceased and a rope and handed it over to the police. Asad then took out another rope used in the murder from the bushes.

But then he made an attempt to flee while firing at the police using a pistol hidden in the bushes.

Police fired in self-defence, and he was shot below the knees on both his legs. He was admitted to a community health centre in an injured state. A pistol, an empty cartridge, the deceased's pants and two ropes were recovered from the spot, they said.

Two days ago, Asad allegedly called a 14-year-old minor boy from his locality and strangled him to death and threw the body in an empty, dilapidated house.

Before this, in the month of April, he allegedly strangled an 11-year-old boy from the same locality to death in the same way.

During interrogation, police said Asad admitted to having committed both murders. He said when the boys resisted his sexual advances, he strangled them to death. Cases have been registered against the accused, police said. PTI COR NAV SKY SKY