Massive manhunt on to nab killer

LUCKNOW: After five days of investigation, the city police on Friday launched a massive manhunt to nab the culprit who raped and brutally killed a fouryear-old girl in Gomti Nagar.

In a four-hour exercise, at least 50 cops collected details of each and every person who has a house or a shop near the crime scene in Gomtinagar and all were quizzed. Cops collected details of every person from Mithaiwala crossing to Neelkanth sweets shops in Gomtinagar.

The girl was kidnapped from the pavement near Mithaiwala crossing where she was sleeping with her mother and two siblings on Sunday midnight. Her mutilated body was later found near the sweet shop on Monday morning.

Additional SP (trans-Gomti), Habibul Hasan said, “This specific case can only be worked out through manual intelligence collection, as nothing substantial has been found after scanning footage of 32 different CCTV cameras installed in and around the crime scene. We have put in our full effort to trace the culprit”.

He said at least four circle officers (CO) and eight police station in-charges had been roped in to crack the case. A specific task had been handed to each team after forming 12 separate teams under COs and police station in-charges. He said a devoted police team in civvies had been deployed for the intelligence collection.

The ASP said the girl’s relative (a 22-year-old youth), who had come under suspicion, had also been called again for interrogation after getting fresh information about him. He said the girl’s mother was a widow and used to take financial help from the youth’s father.