Dehradun police arrested five labourers — all from Bihar — on Thursday in connection with an alleged murder and gangrape of a woman in Mussoorie.
Those arrested have been identified as Bihar (Sitamarhi) natives Pramod Mandal, Narayan Mandal, Rakesh Mandal, Sukhadi Mandal and Rakesh Sahani. With nine people allegedly involved in the heinous crime, four identified as Sitamarhi natives Nandu, Jaikaran, Bittu and Thaga Mandal are still at large, said Dehradun SSP Nivedita Kukreti on Thursday.
She further said that the Mussoorie police had recovered the body of a woman in a decomposed state from Bhatta village on July 20. local Police had collected scientific evidences from the spot the same day, she added.
As the body had been kept at a mortuary for identification, she had been identified as native of Uttarkashi while she had been living with her husband in Chandigarh.
Police said that the woman had left her residence on July 15without informing her husband following which her husband had registered a missing report at Suhana (Mohali) police station in Punjab.
The deceased’s father had registered a complaint too and a case under sections 302/201 of IPC had been registered against unidentified persons in Mussoorie police station. Acting on the complaint, SSP Kukreti had formed a team led by Mussoorie police station in-charge Rajeev Rauthoran.
In course of investigation, police had recovered a mobile phone and a SIM card from the incident site. While the mobile phone was of the deceased the SIM card was of a Bihar native Pramod Mandal.
Investigation further revealed that the woman had reached Mussoorie to meet a friend of hers on July 15 and the following day both had gone to Bhatta village. Police had conducted verification of around 150 families in the Bhatta village and based on scientific evidences, police arrested Pramod Mandal alias Pramod Rawat on Friday.
While being grilled, he revealed the names of other culprits. He further told police that the woman had been strangled to death and after she had died, they had thrown acid on her face to disfigure it beyond recognition and then had hung the from a tree branch.
Sections 34, 376 (d) of IPC have been added in the existing FIR, Kukreti added.