E-Paper
Three accused arrested in Panipat gangrape and murder case
Police have identified the accused as Jai Bhagwan of Saharanpur of Uttar Pradesh who was residing in Ganga Ram colony of Panipat, Sonu Kumar of Muzaffarnagar and Naveen Kumar of Shahjanpur. However, the fourth accused in the case is still at large.
Two weeks after they killed the ailing wife of a migrant labourer and gang-raped three women labourers before robbing two farmhouses in Panipat’s Matlauda, police have arrested three Uttar Pradesh mean on charges of murder, gangrape and robbery.
Police have identified the accused as Jai Bhagwan of Saharanpur of Uttar Pradesh who was residing in Ganga Ram colony of Panipat, Sonu Kumar of Muzaffarnagar and Naveen Kumar of Shahjanpur. However, the fourth accused in the case is still at large.
Besides, 10 police teams, involving over 150 cops from nearby districts a special task force, Sonepat and CIA teams and a special investigation team, are working on the case. Even a cash reward of ₹1 lakh has been announced by the police for any clue about the culprits. Panipat superintendent of police Ajit Singh Shekhawat said police teams had examined 600 hours’ footage of 400 CCTV cameras installed in the 25km radius of the crime spot and through this, helped the police get a clue about the accused as the police traced a bike of the suspects in the Batra colony.
On Tuesday, police got secret information about the presence of the accused near Siwah village. Following a tip off a team conducted a raid and managed to overpower them. One of the accused tried to escape and in the process, broke his leg. During the interrogation, they admitted their involvement in the gangrapes, murder and robbery in Panipat village. They told the police that the accused Jai Bhagwan was heading this group and the accused Naveen and Sonu helped him to recce the family.
The SP said that during the investigation it was found that they had come to one of the farmhouses on August 8 this year and robbed ₹1,200 cash and ornaments from the victims but the latter did not report the matter to the police. Even the accused did not use mobile phones. On the night of September 20, they came on a bike and targeted the farmhouses. He said that during the investigation it was found that the accused had formed groups of 7-8 people and targeted labourers at the farmhouses.
He said that they were produced in the court and Jai Bhagwan and Naveen were sent to seven days of police remand while the court granted two days of police remand of Sonu.
As per the FIR, the 45-year-old ailing wife of a migrant labourer was killed and three other women members of two families were raped when armed men targeted two fish farms on the outskirts of the village under Matlauda police station in Panipat district around 1 am on the intervening night of September 20 and 21.
