Bareilly serial killings: Murder cases of three other women likely to be reopened

The murder of these women was similar to the pattern seen in crimes committed by the alleged serial killer.

The Bareilly police are likely to reopen the murder cases of three women and explore the links with the serial killing of at least six other women under the Shahi and Sheeshgarh police station limits of the district between June 2023 and July 2024, senior police officials said on Sunday.

Kuldeep Kumar Gangwar (HT_PRINT)

The murder of these three women was similar to the pattern seen in crimes committed by the alleged serial killer who strangled his victims after finding them working alone in fields in Bareilly villages. The Bareilly police on Friday arrested the alleged serial killer Kuldeep Kumar Gangwar after 13 months of investigation. Kuldeep had confessed to killing six out of nine women, aged between 42 and 60 years.

Police investigators suspected that there is a possibility that three other women also fell victim to the same serial killer. The previous investigators had closed these three cases after arresting other people accused by the victims’ family members.

Sharing further details, a police official said Kalawati, 50, was found dead in her field at Partapur village under the Shahi police station limits on June 5, 2023. He said her husband Ram Singh stated that the doctors had hinted at possible strangulation, but they neither sent the body for a post-mortem examination nor approached the police to complain about the matter.

Similarly, Kusuma, 40, was found dead in a field at Khajuria village under Shahi police station limits on July 22, 2023. The post-mortem examination revealed that she was strangled. Her family members had lodged an FIR of murder, accusing one Rajendra. The police then arrested Rajendra and his associate Veerpal and closed the investigation.

In another incident, Veerawati, 43, was found dead at Jwalapur village under the same police station limits on August 23, 2023.

In this case, Veerawati daughter said she spotted one Mishri Lal of the same village near the crime scene. Based on her allegation, the police booked Mishri Lal on murder charges and closed the case.

The police official said all three murders had striking similarities with the pattern employed by the alleged serial killer Kuldeep Kumar Gangwar. So, it is likely that the police would reinvestigate the three cases and send a report for the release of those who were booked earlier, the same police official said.

After his arrest, Kuldeep had easily confessed to six murders, the official added. The belongings of the six victims were also recovered from Kuldeep and he revealed that he kept these to remember the number of women murdered by him, the official said.