Telangana labour minister Malla Reddy on Tuesday, 14 September, said that the accused in the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Hyderabad "will be killed in an encounter", according to a report by The Times of India.
This comes just a day after the state's Congress chief Revanth Reddy demanded a similar punishment for the accused.
"We will definitely arrest him and will do the encounter," Reddy told reporters.
Asked to react to the criticism by Opposition leaders for not calling on the family of the victim, the minister said they would definitely meet the family members and pay them compensation, reported IANS.
Hyderabad Police Announce Cash Award for Info Regarding Accused
Meanwhile, Hyderabad police on Tuesday announced a Rs 10 lakh reward for any information leading to arrest of the accused in the case.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar announced the reward as Pallakonda Raju is absconding.
The information can be passed to Deputy Commissioner of Police, East Zone on contact number 9490616366 or Deputy Commissioner of Police, Task Force on 9490616627.
The police also released a photograph of the accused, aged about 30 years.
The man, a neighbour of the victim's family had reportedly befriended the girl and had taken her to his house, where he committed the alleged crime.
On Friday, hours after the girl went missing from her house, the incident sparked widespread protests, with the residents staging a sit-in protest in the neighbourhood. Since then, at least nine special police teams have been on the lookout for the accused.
The Times of India had earlier reported that it was challenging for the police to trace the accused as he did not own a mobile phone. The police said that the accused was last seen in Falaknuma area of Hyderabad.
(With inputs from Times of India, IANS and The News Minute.)
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