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Himachal: Sirmaur man shot dead while hunting, 2 held
The Solan police added that the accused then chopped the head from the torso to destroy evidence and make it difficult to identify the body
Two persons have been arrested for killing a man during a hunting expedition in Solan district, police said on Saturday.
The Solan police added that the accused then chopped the head from the torso to destroy evidence and make it difficult to identify the body. The accused, identified as Solan residents — Bhutto Ram (49) and Sandeep Kumar alias Ajay (41), burnt the torso of the victim Somdat alias Sonu (38) in a cave in a jungle falling in Sirmaur district while dumping the head in jungle falling in Solan district, Solan superintendent of police (SP) Gaurav Singh said.
The victim Somdat was a resident of Palhech village of Tehsil Pachhad in district Sirmaur and had been missing since January 21.
Somdat also had gone hunting in forest
On January 23, Yashpal, a resident of Solan district, lodged a complaint at sadar police station in Solan that his brother-in-law Somdat on January 21 had gone to the forest to get some firewood but did not return.
Somdat had also borrowed a gun from a neighbour of his brother-in-law. In the evening when they tried to contact Somdat his phone was switched off. After which Yashpal along with family members launched a search operation but couldn’t find him, the victim’s kin told police.
During investigations, local residents told the police that on January 21 in the evening, they had seen two people — Bhutto Ram and Sandeep— also going towards the same forest for hunting. The complainant Yashpal also expressed his suspicion that Bhutto and Sandeep killed his brother-in-law after which a murder case was registered at sadar police station in Solan and both the accused were arrested.
Sandeep killed the victim, say Cops
In the police investigation, it was found that Bhutto and Sandeep entered the forest for hunting around the same time when Somdat left his house.
As per police, during hunting, Sandeep fired the shot that killed Somdat who was on the other side of the forest and he died on the spot.
After this, both the accused put the dead body of the deceased in a plastic bag and ferried it to a cave in Vasni forest of Sirmaur district in their car.
“At night, both of them cut the neck of the deceased with a sickle and separated it from the torso. They set the torso on fire in the cave itself and took the head along so that the body of the deceased could not be identified,” the Solan SP said.
“The accused took the head to the jungle of Sultanpur in Solan district burnt and buried it in the ground. The accused also broke and threw away the deceased’s mobile phone besides hiding his gun. The gun has been recovered based on the accused’s interrogation,” he added.
“Police have identified the places where the torso and neck of the deceased were hidden and the forensic teams are on a job to recover the body. The accused have confessed to the crime,” he said.
Apart from this, accused Sandeep’s .12-bore rifle and live cartridges have also been seized. The dead body is also being identified based on technical forensic investigation,” the SP said.
