JOIN USA young man, who is suspected to have lured an eight-year-old girl into a shed at Pillagumpe Industrial Area near Hoskote where he raped and then killed her last Thursday, was arrested on Sunday evening. Police identified him as Ambarish (in pic), 19, a construction labourer who seems to be a habitual offender.
Ambarish, a resident of Cholappanahalli near Hoskote, was caught by the public around 5 pm. They beat him black and blue before calling the police. Police had released the suspect’s sketches on Saturday after CCTV camera footage showed a drunk man taking the girl into the shed on the pretext of handing her an object which had slipped off her hand. The CCTV camera was installed at a private firm nearby. The sketches were displayed on hoardings and flex boards, too.
Many people started looking out for the suspect. The breakthrough came when some people saw Ambarish loitering between Hoskote and Jangamakote, located about a kilometre from the shed. They immediately caught him and thrashed him.
“We have arrested him. During the interrogation, he confessed to committing the crime,” Bengaluru Rural Superintendent of Police Ramesh Banoth told Deccan Herald. Police then took an injured Ambarish to a private hospital where he is being treated now, another officer said.
According to Banoth, Ambarish had taken to drinking at a young age.
“He seems to be a habitual offender. We will interrogate him thoroughly to dig out his background.” Ambarish’s father was also a construction labourer and had died a few years ago. His mother works in Hoskote.
Ambarish dropped out after class 7, the police said. The girl was playing outside her home after returning from school when the suspect lured her. Her parents, construction labourers from Hubballi, were away at work. Upon their return home, they found her missing and went looking for her but in vain.
The father then made a complaint to the Sulibele police. The girl was found lying semi-nude in the shed. There were bites and injuries on her private parts. She was no more alive.
Suspecting rape too, the police registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and sections 376 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and launched a manhunt for the suspect.