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No involvement of ‘serial killer’:
On Monday night at around 7:30 pm, the Railway Police Force (RPF) personnel at the terminal became suspicious after they found foul smell coming out from a drum that was placed near one of the entry gates at the railway station, and informed the Baiyappanahalli police
Bengaluru
Two days after the recovery of a woman’s body in a storage drum at Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal (SMVT) at Baiyappanahalli in Bengaluru, the railway police have taken three suspects into custody for investigation, and ruled out any involvement of a “serial killer” in the murder, officials said.
This is the third such incident reported from a railway station in the city in the last three months. Since all the three women were in their 30s and remained unidentified initially, it has raised fears about a “serial killer” and lack of security at railway stations.
On Monday night at around 7:30 pm, the Railway Police Force (RPF) personnel at the terminal became suspicious after they found foul smell coming out from a drum that was placed near one of the entry gates at the railway station, and informed the Baiyappanahalli police.
An autorickshaw driver, who was at the Baiyappanahalli station when the body was recovered, said that the foul smell emanating from the drum created suspicion among the railway police. “There was a foul smell at the entrance. Upon checking the drum placed at the one of the entrances, a decomposed body was found. It created panic among all of us,” he said.
According to people in the know of the matter, the railway police have detained three persons involved in the murder of the woman, while two accused are still absconding. They have also identified the victim, who was from Uttar Pradesh, while the three accused are from Bihar, a police officer said.
Preliminary investigations show that three men brought the drum in an autorickshaw and dumped it at the entrance of the railway station on Monday.
Dr Soumyalatha S K, Superintendent of Police for Railways, said that the suspects are being interrogated, and clarified that there is no “serial killer” angle to the murder. “We are interrogating the suspects. The victim has been identified. But this is nothing related to serial killing. I want to clarify that because it has created a lot of panic. The three killings are not related,” Soumyalatha said.
On January 4 this year, decomposing body of a woman, aged around 30, was found in a blue drum abandoned at the end of platform number 1 of Yeshwantpur railway station. Upon inspection, clothes and the woman’s body were recovered from the drum. The woman was found to have been strangulated with a dupatta. In December last year, the body of a woman was found in a yellow sack in one of the unreserved coaches of Bangarapet-Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal MEMU Special.
“We have already identified the accused in the last case, and the victim also. She is from Bangalore. We also have CCTV footage of three people throwing the body. There is no serial killer angle to this case. In the earlier two cases, the bodies were not from Bengaluru. Once the arrest formalities are completed, we will release the details,” said N Shashi Kumar, DIG, Railways.
“In the Yeshwathpur incident, they kept the body in the drum at the railway station. In the latest incident also, the miscreants murdered somewhere else and tried to dispose it in the drum at the railway station. Other than this, we cannot say anything,” Soumyalatha said.
Another police officer on condition on anonymity, said that such incidents are not uncommon. “Earlier, we used to find bodies in gunny bags and dumped on the railway tracks or elsewhere. Now that three similar incidents were reported, there are rumours about a serial killer being involved,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Railways SP further said that the CCTV footage has been collected and further investigation is underway. Three police teams head by an inspector has been formed to ascertain the culprits at the earliest. “We will identify the culprits very soon and reveal all the details about the victim,” Soumyalatha added.
