24 hrs after FIR, man held after encounter for raping two sisters in Azamgarh

Varanasi: Twenty-four hours after an FIR was registered, police arrested a 45-year-old man accused of raping two minor sisters and blackmailing them with videos, following an encounter in Azamgarh on Saturday.The accused, Mohammad Zahid alias Rustam, 45, sustained a bullet injury in the leg during the exchange of fire, ASP (City) Madhuvan Kumar Singh said.Singh said the arrest came within 24 hours of the girls’ mother lodging an FIR alleging Zahid raped her daughters, aged 16 and 17, recorded the acts, and threatened to make the videos viral to assault them repeatedly. The Azamgarh SP formed multiple police teams to arrest him, Singh added.Acting on a tip-off during night patrol, Gambhirpur police set up a cordon near Jahania after informers reported Zahid was heading towards Bairadih via Madarpur-Lahbariya on a motorcycle. When police tried to stop him, Zahid attempted to flee by turning his bike but slipped and fell. He then opened fire at the police team. In retaliatory firing, he was shot in the leg and arrested.Police seized a country-made pistol, cartridges and the motorcycle from Zahid before rushing him to hospital. During questioning, Zahid confessed to luring the two girls to a tubewell room in his orchard where he raped them, Singh said.