India, April 14 -- A five-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and murdered in Hubballi on Sunday morning, triggering public outrage. Hours later, the man accused of the crime was shot dead by police while allegedly attempting to escape custody.

The accused, identified as 35-year-old Ritesh Kumar from Patna, Bihar, was allegedly involved in the kidnapping and killing of the child earlier in the day. He was shot dead by police in the evening while trying to flee custody, according to senior officials, news agency PTI reported.

According to the report, the incident unfolded in the Ashok Nagar police station limits, where the child, whose family hails from the Koppal district, was accompanying her mother, who works as a domestic help and ...