MEERUT, Aug. 20 -- A 22-year-old man was arrested in Bareilly district on Monday evening following a police encounter for allegedly kidnapping and killing his 10-year-old cousin after an attempt to extort ransom failed. The accused, who sustained bullet injuries in both legs during the encounter, was taken into custody. According to police, the incident occurred in Titouli village under the Fatehganj Paschimi police station area. On Sunday evening, 10-year-old Aahil, son of Sakhawat Navi, went missing around 5 pm. Later that night, around 10:30 pm, Sakhawat received a ransom message on his mobile phone from an unknown number demanding Rs.10 lakh. SSP Anurag Arya immediately rushed to the spot and deployed the special operations group (SOG) and surveillance teams. CCTV footage from the village showed Wasim, a resident of the same village and Aahil's cousin, taking the boy on a motorcycle towards Shahi. Using the mobile location of the ransom message, police traced and apprehended Wasim. During interrogation, he confessed to kidnapping Aahil and demanding ransom. He further admitted that, fearing arrest, he took the boy to a forest near Vikrampur village in Shahi police station area and killed him on the spot by slitting his throat with a blade, the SSP said. Based on his confession, police recovered Ahil's blood-stained body, murder weapon, and the motorcycle from a field in Vikrampur. However, during the recovery, Wasim attempted to flee by firing at police team with a country-made pistol hidden in his bike bag. In the retaliatory firing, he was shot in both legs and subsequently arrested. SSP stated that strict legal action would be taken against him....