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2000 CCTV footage, joint 6-state probe: How rape accused, who killed 5 in a month, was caught in Gujarat
Rahul Karamveer Jat was arrested at Vapi Railway Station in Gujarat's Valsad, on November 24.
The recent arrest of Rahul Karamveer Jat, a man charged with the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Gujarat, has revealed some deeply troubling revelations.
Gujarat police officials claim that the suspect is linked to at least four additional murders as well as other crimes, predominantly occurring on trains across multiple states within just a month.
Rahul Karamveer Jat was arrested at Vapi Railway Station in Gujarat's Valsad, on November 24, after a joint police probe involving officials from 6 states and the analysis of nearly 2,000 CCTV cameras throughout several districts in Gujarat.
How was the serial killer caught in Gujarat?
The accused, 30, a resident of Haryana, was apprehended on November 24 following a massive multistate operation. The serial killer was caught by the police while he was travelling on a Bandra-Bhuj train, Valsad superintendent of police Karanraj Vaghela said.
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The first breakthrough came after the alleged murder and rape of a 19-year-old college student near Udvada railway station in the Valsad district on November 14.
2000 CCTV footage scanned
Soon after the deceased woman's forensic examination, which confirmed rape, police formed several investigation teams and examined more than 2,000 CCTV camera footage.
The accused was spotted on CCTV cameras at the railway station, wearing the same clothes that were recovered from the area where the woman's body was found. Investigators identified the suspect through his distinctive limp at Vapi railway station.
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The CCTV camera footage also showed Jat relishing some food, after committing the chilling crime, at the railway station.
The identification later led to a joint operation involving police forces from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. The investigation further revealed a string of murders committed by him across multiple states.
Who is serial killer Rahul Karamveer Jat and his criminal history
Rahul Karamveer Jat is a Class 5 dropout, media reports suggested. He has reportedly confessed to a series of crimes.
According to Valsad SP, the accused had murdered a fellow passenger in Karnataka on the Bengaluru-Murdeshwar train following an argument over cigarettes on October 25. In West Bengal, he killed and robbed a 63-year-old man on the Katihar Express on November 19, inflicting multiple stab wounds.
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A few days before his arrest, he had murdered a woman on the Mangalore Special Express at Secunderabad railway station on November 24.
"In October 2024, he sexually assaulted and murdered a woman passenger on the Pune-Kanyakumari train near Solapur and an investigation is on in this matter,” Vaghela said.
The accused’s modus operandi involved targeting lone passengers, particularly in disabled coaches and women’s compartments, police said.
