Chandigarh Police collect crucial evidence linking taxi driver to three rape-murders

Taking the investigation forward following his arrest on May 1, Chandigarh Police have discovered that Kumar sold the phone he stole from the first victim for a mere ₹300 at a shop in since razed Colony Number 4

Digging deeper into the criminal history of taxi driver Monu Kumar, 38, the accused behind three gruesome rape-murders in Chandigarh, UT police have gathered more compelling evidence against him.

The accused taxi driver has confessed to raping and murdering three women since 2010, as per Chandigarh Police. (HT Photo)

According to investigators, over a span of 14 years, Kumar first raped and murdered a 22-year-old MBA student in Sector 38 West in July 2010.

Nearly 12 years later, a 40-year-old woman from Maloya, fell prey to the accused’s brutality in January 2022. His third victim was a 55-year-old woman, whom he raped and murdered in the forest area of Sector 54 on February 28 this year.

Taking the investigation forward following his arrest on May 1, police have discovered that Kumar sold the phone he stole from the first victim for a mere ₹300 at a shop in since razed Colony Number 4. The shopkeeper had positively identified the accused, said police.

Additionally, evidence from the 2024 case revealed that Kumar deliberately turned off his mobile phone at 7.47 pm, hours before the murder and restarted it the next day at 4.04 am.

CCTV footage capturing him approaching the road from the forest area has been recovered by the police. They have also recovered the blood-stained clothes worn by the accused, as captured in the CCTV footage.

The accused’s mobile phone, registered under his mother’s name, further corroborates his presence at the crime scene.

His DNA report has confirmed his involvement in the 2022 case, while reports for the 2010 and 2024 cases are awaited.

Police officials disclosed that Kumar confessed to the 2022 murder first, followed by admission of guilt for the 2010 case during subsequent interrogation. Finally, during his last custody, he confessed to the 2024 murder.

Consistent modus operandi

In all three cases, Kumar’s modus operandi remained consistent, wielding a large rock to bludgeon his victims, resulting in severe facial disfigurement, said police.

His elusive nature, characterised by the absence of mobile phones, PAN card or Aadhaar cards, compounded police’s struggle in apprehending him. Absence of eyewitnesses further left the cases unsolved.

Breakthrough in the investigation came in 2023, after similarities were noticed in the 2010 and 2022 cases, further corroborated by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory that semen recovered from the bodies of both victims belonged to the same man.

While profiling over 800 suspects since 2023, police called Kumar to the Maloya police station to give blood samples.

Blood samples from three suspects, including Kumar, were sent to the CFSL for analysis in August last year, and the results, received seven months later in May this year, confirmed his involvement, leading to his arrest.