Malihabad murder: With ‘predators’ on prowl, victim in wrong place at wrong time?
Auto rickshaw driver took a detour 35km away from the Alambagh bus terminal, told victim that the diversion was due to ‘Metro work’, assured her family on call too
LUCKNOW The 32-year-old woman, who was murdered after allegedly being abducted from the Alambagh bus terminal when she boarded an auto rickshaw, seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, falling victim to ‘midnight predators’ already waiting in the area with a malicious intention.
Police said before the abduction, the victim had shared her live location with her brother as she suspected that the auto-rickshaw driver was taking her on the wrong route. The driver accused of killing her detoured nearly 35km away from the Alambagh bus terminal, crossing five police stations limits, including Alambagh, Para, Thakurganj, Dubagga and Kakori police stations. He finally reached Malihabad, the crime spot, where her body was found in the wee hours of Wednesday.
As per CCTV footages, the auto rickshaw was without any number plate and moving suspiciously outside the Alambagh bus terminal. Few other footages after the crime purportedly showed the driver coming back to the Alambagh bus station to check if the CCTV footage was working.
A day after the incident, the family of the deceased woman revealed the sequence of events on the intervening night of Tuesday-Wednesday .
“Bhabhi, I don’t know where the auto driver is taking me. Something seems fishy. Let me talk to Bhaiya. The auto driver says that Metro work is going on. The road is closed, so we are taking a detour. Bhabhi, save us...everything ended with this scream,” the deceased woman’s family told media.
The victim’s brother said, “My sister called up my wife at 2.30am, saying she would reach in some time. On this, I asked her to give the phone to the auto driver. The driver also told us - Metro work is going on, so I am taking a detour. On this, I asked my sister to send the live location. When I checked the live location, it was near Naya Kheda village of Malihabad. She alerted us that something is wrong. After saying this, she screamed, and the phone got disconnected.”
It is suspected that the auto driver committed the crime with the help of others who posed as co-passengers. However, the police have denied the claim.
DCP (crime) Kamlesh Dixit told HT, “CCTV footages have not shown presence of any other person inside the auto. However, footages of other areas are also being looked into.”
Accused drove back to check CCTV cam
A footage of the auto driver from a CCTV camera 500 metres away from the Kasmandi police post purportedly shows him going to Malihabad while passing by a private hospital at 2.07am.
He returns via the same route at 3.24 am to check if the hospital has cameras. When he sees the camera, he flees. The woman is also captured on cam at Alambagh bus stand at 1.26am.
The driver chose a deserted route to execute the crime. He crossed Kasmandi post, avoiding the highway, as this area was deserted. “The accused has been captured in CCTV footage along with the auto at many places. He is being tracked on the basis of the footage,” said Malihabad SHO Baidyanath Singh.
‘No hint of sexual assault’
According to the DCP (crime), the post-mortem report has revealed strangulation as the cause of death. “The medical examination does not hint towards rape or sexual assault. However, police are investigating the matter from all possible angles.”