Police of three cities probing cases of missing minors ‘linked’ to Gurugram serial killer

The police in Gurugram, Jhansi and Gwalior are coordinating to trace the cases of minor girls, who had gone missing and later their bodies were recovered from different locations following the arrest and confession of 20-year-old Sunil Kumar in connection with the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl in Gurugram.

Police officials in three cities -- Gurugram, Gwalior and Jhansi -- are working to solve the cases of rape and murder involving minors allegedly perpetrated by Sunil Kumar, who was arrested on November 19 from Jhansi for allegedly raping and killing a three-year-old girl in Gurugram’s Sector 66. Since then, at least seven such cases have been solved in the city, four each in Jhansi and Gwalior and one in Mahoba village of Uttar Pradesh from where Kumar comes.

Sunil Kumar was arrested on November 19 from Jhansi for allegedly raping and murdering a three year old girl in sector 66 of Gurugram.(Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The police in Gurugram, Jhansi and Gwalior are now coordinating to trace the cases of minor girls, who had gone missing and later their bodies were recovered from different locations. Authorities are collecting records from all police stations and will question the accused about them. Soon after his arrest, Kumar had reportedly told the police that he raped and murdered at least 15 girls in different cities over the past seven years.

Shamsher Singh, assistant commissioner of police (crime), Gurugram, said the teams from Jhansi and Gwalior police stations are carrying out investigation and are visiting different places to collect evidence on the basis of inputs received from the accused. Technical teams are also working on to collect scientific evidence of the accused from different locations, said the officer.

According to the Gurugram police, a Gwalior police team had reached the city soon after the arrest of 20-year-old Kumar, a daily wager.

Based on his confession , the Gwalior police claimed to have solved the four cases of rape and murder, including the sexual assault on a five-year-old girl whose skeletal remains were recovered near Akhileshwar temple in Gwalior on Saturday.

The Gwalior police said their four cases have been traced and they are collecting data from 40 police stations to check how many cases were reported from their areas. They are suspecting involvement of the accused in more cases in the last seven years. Dharmendra Kushwah, sub-inspector of Kampoo police station, Gwalior, said they are investigating if any other case is registered where minor girls went missing under mysterious circumstances.

“The police have traced skeletal remains in two cases so far and are suspecting that he might be involved in more cases. The accused travelled to Delhi, Gwalior, and Jhansi frequently and never stayed at one location for a long period based on his mobile phone history,” said Singh.

Meanwhile, Government Railway Police station, Jhansi, contacted the city police and informed that they are suspecting Kumar’s involvement in four cases where minors were kidnapped from community lunches near railway station and the cases are unsolved. “We are collecting data and have found four such cases from the railway station where minors were abducted and never returned. We have not even recovered their bodies,” said an official requesting anonymity.

“Once the data is collected, the police teams will question Kumar. During his confession he had revealed that many times he slept on Jhansi railway station and targeted minors who were unattended,” said Singh.

Meanwhile, Delhi police teams visited Gurugram but did not found anything substantial. “Three-four days ago, the Gurugram police had informed us that the serial killer revealed that he had raped and killed a girl near a gurudwara in Moti Bagh. Our team went there and interrogated the accused. However, his questioning did not yield anything substantial. No such case is registered in our police stations,” said Vijay Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (south).

Gurugram police said during questioning the accused did not mention the exact dates and time of the past incidents. He says that he committed all the crimes two years ago, police said.