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Skeletons of two teenagers missing for 6 months found in jungles near Indore
The teenagers were looted and killed by robbers after the girl recognised the gang leader. They were stripped, pushed off a cliff and the girl’s face was bludgeoned.
Skeletons of two teenagers who were suspected to have eloped around six months back were found in the jungles near Mhow town on Tuesday following the arrest of a gang of robbers who confessed to killing them.
The teenagers have been identified as Himangshu Sen of Dhar Naka Mhow and Shreya Joshi of Sardar Patel Nagar, Kodariya, said Indore deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Harinarayan Chari Mishra. Both were 19.
Police said the six-member gang who operate in the jungles of Mehendi Kund and Nakori kund, a popular picnic spot, confessed to looting and killing Sen and Joshi, who were there for an outing.
Joshi recognised the gang leader, Ishwar, as they both lived in the same area. Fearing they would be identified, the gang made the couple strip and pushed them off a cliff. They also bludgeoned Joshi’s face to hide her identity. They then hid the bodies under a pile of stones and burnt their clothes and two-wheeler.
“Though the accused had burnt their clothes we have found the girl’s tiffin box, water bottle, the boy’s shoes, through which they have been identified. We are sending samples of the skeleton for forensic tests for definite identification,” the DIG said.
The incident took place in November last year. After a missing report was filed by Joshi and Sen’s parents with the Bargonda police in Mhow , their mobile phones were traced to Telangana, which led everyone to believe that the two had run away.
The case was cracked during the investigation of another robbery case in January.
Additional SP (crime Branch) Amrendra Singh said police were looking into a case in which three boys and four girls who had gone for a picnic in the same jungles on January 4 had been robbed. The gang had held them captive and snatched their valuables, but luckily one of the girls managed to send a text message to her friend. The Bargonda police then sent a search party for them. Hearing the police siren, the miscreants had run away and the picnickers were rescued.
The gang was arrested on Monday after the police received a tip-off that Ishwar (25) and another member, Balram Makwana (20), who lived in the villages surrounding the jungles, were involved in the looting. While Ishwar managed to escape, Balram and four others were arrested.
Balram, police claim, confessed that he and the others looted several teenagers and couples who would visit the jungles of Mehendi Kund and Nakori kund for picnics in the past three years. No one had complained to the police which had further emboldened them.
