Amaravati: The accused in Saturday's electric chainsaw attack on a Class 10 girl student in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district was injured in the police firing on Sunday.
Police opened fire on Hemanth when he tried to evade arrest in the Atmakur forest area in Anantapur district.
Hemanth, 21, was admitted to a hospital in Anantapur town. The details of his condition were not immediately known.
Police have maintained tight security at the hospital.
According to police, the accused tried to escape when a police team tried to arrest him.
The police team had reached the area following information about his presence there. Police personnel reportedly opened fire in the air to make the accused surrender. When he tried to escape, the team opened fire on him.
The police team reportedly opened about six rounds to catch the accused.
Hemanth had attacked the girl at Zilla Parishad High School in Rapthadu, Anantapur district on Saturday.
The accused is a relative of the girl and attacked her after she spurned his proposal.
The girl was critically injured in the attack and was shifted to a hospital in Bengaluru, where she is undergoing treatment.
According to doctors, the next 48 hours will be crucial for the victim.
Andhra Pradesh Education and IT Minister Nara Lokesh on Sunday visited Bengaluru and spoke with doctors at Manipal Hospital to review the health condition of the girl and ongoing treatment.
The accused, who was later identified as Hemanth, is a close relative of the victim. He is reported to be still at large.
According to an official release here, Lokesh said the incident occurred around 10 a.m. when an individual entered the school premises carrying a chainsaw and attacked the student. Upon receiving information, he immediately alerted the police and district health authorities.
The girl was initially shifted to a government hospital, where doctors worked for nearly eight hours to stabilise her condition. Once she was fit to be transferred, she was moved to Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru. Doctors immediately initiated treatment and performed surgery lasting nearly 12 hours before shifting her to the ICU.
Lokesh said the next 48 hours would be critical and appealed to people across Andhra Pradesh to pray for the girl’s recovery. Calling her “our daughter”, he said she needed everyone’s support and prayers during this difficult time.