9-Year-Old Kidnapped, Raped, Body Found Dumped In Canal In Delhi: Cops

Days after a nine-year-old girl went missing from Delhi's Swaroop Nagar area, police on Tuesday said that a 52-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping, raping, and killing the girl.

The accused, identified as Sanjeev Rana, later dumped her body in the Munak canal. A team of divers has been brought in to trace the girl's body, police said.

According to officials, the police received information about the kidnapping of the girl on December 12, based on which a case was registered. 

While the search for the missing girl was ongoing, the accused met with an accident and was admitted to a hospital in the Rohini area on December 15. His statement, however, could not be recorded as doctors at the hospital declared him unfit.

The police, during the investigation, found out that the girl sat in the accused's vehicle on a nearby street on the day she went missing.

On December 17, the statement of the accused was recorded by the police after he was declared fit. During this, he confessed to kidnapping the girl and killing her. In his initial confession, he revealed that he dumped the girl's body in Munak canal, DCP Outer North Ravi Kumar Singh said.

Since December 17, five divers have been deployed to search for the girl's body in the canal and a separate team has been formed to check the accused's travel route on the day of the kidnapping. A team of divers from Khajuri is being brought in and the search for the victim's body is on, DCP said.

The accused has been arrested for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of the girl, he added.

Police have registered a case under sections 364, 302, and 201 of IPC, and relevant sections of the POCSO Act against him.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)