An absconding rape and murder accused shot himself dead with a pistol after police surrounded him atop a hillock in Chhattarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, said police on Wednesday.

The incident occurred at the Siddh Baba hillock near the Puchi village on Tuesday.

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Police officials said that the accused, Bhola Ahirwar, was on the run from the police and when the police teams surrounded him, he first shot at the police and finally put a pistol to his head and shot himself.

As per the police, an FIR of rape had been registered against Bhola Ahirwar (25) two months ago after a minor lodged a complaint against him. He had been absconding since then.

He was creating pressure on the victim to make a settlement in the case. Subsequently, he barged into the girl’s house on Monday and shot at her, her paternal grandfather and uncle. The grandfather (65), died on the spot while the 17-year-old girl and her uncle (24) were critically injured. Bhola fled from the spot.

Police teams were continuously searching for him, when he posted his location on social media on Tuesday. Following that, police teams reached the spot and surrounded him before he killed himself. A video taken from some distance also surfaced where a person, said to be Bhola, could be seen putting a pistol to his head and killing himself atop the hillock.

According to Sagar IG Pramod Verma, when the police teams surrounded Bhola, he began firing at the police. The police also returned fire and after that Bhola shot himself dead with a country-made pistol.

Earlier, Bhola had also posted a note on social media claiming that he was innocent in the rape case. He, however, claimed responsibility for shooting at the victim and her relatives.

According to reports, Bhola also accused the Civil Lines police station Inspector Valmiki Chaubey of framing him in the case and booking him wrongly under Section 376 for rape and the POCSO Act. Bhola claimed he did not commit any rape and the entire village knew the truth.

Further police investigations into all angles are on in the case.