Palamu police arrest four for kidnapping and murder of woman returning from Durga Puja pandal
THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK Daltonganj, October 24: Palamu police have cracked the kidnapping and murder case of a 35-year-old Dalit woman who…
Palamu SP Kapil Chaudhary briefs the media in Daltonganj on Saturday about the murder case. The four arrested accused are seen standing behind him.
THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, October 24: Palamu police have cracked the kidnapping and murder case of a 35-year-old Dalit woman who was allegedly abducted, robbed and strangled to death while returning home from a Durga Puja pandal on the night of October 20. Police have arrested four accused in connection with the crime.
Palamu Superintendent of Police Kapil Chaudhary briefed the media on Saturday, October 24, outlining the investigation that led to the arrests.
The deceased, Geeta Devi, a resident of Basna village, was returning home from a nearby Durga Puja pandal when she was allegedly waylaid, robbed of her jewellery and strangled in a paddy field close to her house.
Her husband, Shashi Paswan, lodged a complaint at Nawa Bazar police station on October 21, reporting her kidnapping. Police initially registered a case under Section 140 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to aggravated kidnapping and abduction.
Later that afternoon, police discovered Geeta Devi’s body abandoned in a paddy field. Section 103 of the BNS, relating to murder, was subsequently added to the case, police sources said.
SIT Formed Amid Public and Political Pressure
Given the sensitivity of the case, which involved the kidnapping and murder of a Dalit woman, SP Kapil Chaudhary constituted a special investigation team (SIT) under the leadership of Bishrampur Sub-Divisional Police Officer Chiranjeev Mandal.
The case also drew political attention. Palamu BJP MP Vishnu Dayal Ram and Congress leader Prashant Kishore, son of state Finance Minister Radha Krishna Kishore, pressed the police to solve the crime promptly. Prashant Kishore also visited the bereaved family, while the MP issued a press statement expressing concern and urging the police to arrest those responsible.
According to sources, SP Chaudhary also met the victim’s family and assured them that those involved would be arrested at the earliest. The family placed its trust in the police, sources said.
Apart from a road blockade on the National Highway, there was no major public protest following the incident, police sources said.
Abandoned Motorcycle Provides Crucial Lead
Investigators found a motorcycle allegedly used in the crime abandoned at the scene. Police said the vehicle had been stolen, and its recovery provided a crucial lead in reconstructing the crime and the accused persons’ movements afterwards.
“The prime accused Deep Ranjan Pandey,22, arrested now, was all set to flee by Jammu Tawai express train which the SIT aborted” said the SIT head Chiranjeev Mandal.
Pandey, 22, has five criminal cases registered against him, police said.
Another accused, Akash Shukla, 26, was allegedly planning to leave for Hyderabad, but the police team foiled the plan, Mandal said. Shukla has two criminal cases against him, including one under the Arms Act, police added.
The other two accused, Rohit, 24, and Vikki Paswan, 25, were arrested from their respective localities in Rajhara and Lohra, near the victim’s village of Basna.
All four accused were apprehended on Friday and produced before a court on Saturday. They were remanded to judicial custody for 14 days, police said.
Jewellery, Phones and Bloodstained Clothes Seized
Police seized two motorcycles, one of them allegedly stolen, four mobile phones, the jewellery reportedly taken from the victim and bloodstained clothes allegedly belonging to the prime accused.
The rope allegedly used to strangle the woman was also recovered, police said.
Explaining the suspected motive, SIT head Mandal said, “The motive was to loot. In came the luckless woman. She was overpowered and looted and murdered.”
Police are awaiting the post-mortem examination report to establish whether the woman was sexually assaulted. According to Mandal, the four accused have given what he described as “split confession” regarding the alleged sexual assault.
Akash Shukla and Vikki Paswan work as auto-rickshaw drivers. Police said the victim knew both men.
“When the woman saw Akash and Vikki with Pandey and Rohit who were mauling her like anything in the paddy field, she made a fatal mistake of telling them she knew these two and that very moment her fate was sealed for ever by these four” said police.
Police sources said the accused allegedly feared that the woman could identify them, making their arrest inevitable, and therefore decided to kill her by strangulation.
Police Describe Case as a Blind Investigation
Investigators said the case posed a significant challenge because there were no known eyewitnesses to the alleged kidnapping or murder. The abandoned motorcycle, however, provided a vital lead that helped the SIT identify and arrest the suspects.
Sources credited the investigation’s progress to close monitoring by the SP and the SIT, along with sustained efforts to establish the sequence of events despite growing public scrutiny.
The arrests have brought a breakthrough in the case, while the post-mortem report is awaited to clarify the circumstances surrounding the alleged sexual assault.
