Bareilly ‘saree’ murders still a mystery to cops

Police in Bareilly have made little progress in solving the murders of nine women reported since June. The commonality in all the crimes is that the murder weapon was always a saree or chunari. A person with an intellectual disability has confessed to two of the murders, but police are not convinced. Additional resources have been deployed to enhance vigilance.

Even weeks after launching an investigation into the murders of nine women reported since June 17, police in Bareilly have made little progress into solving the crimes.

Police on Friday detained a person with intellectual disability who confessed to two of the nine murders—of Mehmoodan, 60, and Urmilla Devi, 57—on October 31 and November 26 even without any rigorous questioning. However, they were not convinced with his confession, police officials said.

The murders took place in the jurisdiction of two police stations—Shahi and Sheeshgarh. The commonality in all the crimes was that the murder weapon was always either a saree or chunari (stole). The murders raised many alarms prompting the police to deploy additional resources to enhance vigilance and curb any potential threat.

However, no further such instance has been reported. The most recent murder was reported from Sheeshgarh police station on November 26. What makes the task of finding the killer/s more challenging is tha there is no eyewitnesses to any of these crimes.

In the latest development in the case, the police on Friday detained a person with intellectual disability who confessed to two of the nine murders—of Mehmoodan, 60, and Urmilla Devi, 57—on October 31 and November 26 even without any rigorous questioning. However, they were not convinced with his confession, police officials said.

“We are keeping a watch on the activities of suspects spotted in the region and many of them were even quizzed. However, there is no concrete lead in the case. Further investigation into the matter is underway,” said Bareilly senior superintendent of police Ghule Sushil Chandrabhan.

He, however, added, that an aerial surveillance and combing operations had been stepped in Bareilly villages, particularly those under the Shahi and Sheeshgarh police station limits. He said six teams, which include women police officers, had been deployed for the purpose. Besides, 50 CCTVs had been installed for better vigil on connecting roads and 150 cops were deployed for regular monitoring.

BJP MLA DC Verma from Meerganj assembly of Bareilly recently met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to bring into his notice the fear women in the region were living under in the wake of the series of murders.