Jhansi/Kanpur, Jan. 11 -- The main accused of murdering Jhansi's first woman auto-rickshaw driver was arrested late on Friday night after a brief police encounter, days after allegedly attempting to mislead investigators by staging his own disappearance. The accused, Mukesh Jha, was apprehended near Bhagwantpura road after police received a tip-off about his movement in the busy area. According to SP City Priti Singh, Jha opened fire when the police team moved in. Police retaliated, injuring him. He was taken to Jhansi medical college for treatment and is currently under police custody. Praising the police action, Anita's sister, Vidhi Chowdhary, said that the police should now ensure capital punishment for the accused. "The family on its part will fight this case tooth and nail; the case should be tried in a fast track court." Police say Jha, who ran a hotel in Orchha in Madhya Pradesh, had known the victim, Anita Chaudhary, for several years. Investigators allege that tensions arose after Anita decided to walk out of the relationship. Jha had earlier been booked in a separate case for illegal possession of a firearm and was known to have frequent disputes with her, police said. Anita was found dead on January 5, lying in a pool of blood near Station Road, with her auto-rickshaw overturned nearby. The police initially treated the case as an accident, but a post-mortem examination later confirmed that she had sustained gunshot injuries to the neck, prompting a murder investigation. Based on the findings, police booked Jha along with his son Shivam and brother-in-law Manoj. While Shivam and Manoj were arrested earlier, Jha went absconding, leading the police to announce a reward of Rs 25,000 for information leading to his arrest. During the search, police recovered Jha's car, mobile phone and firearm abandoned near the banks of the Betwa river. The discovery briefly raised suspicions that he may have drowned, and divers were pressed into service before investigators concluded that the move was intended to throw them off track. Anita, who began driving an auto-rickshaw in 2021, had become a familiar and widely admired figure in the city. She was often cited as a symbol of women's empowerment and had been felicitated on several occasions by local authorities and social organisations....