The Assam Police on Friday arrested another person in connection with the alleged rape and murder of two women on board separate trains on July 10 and 11. The police arrested Bipin Pandey from the Dibrugarh-Bangalore Express at Banipur station early on Friday, PTI reported.
The police had arrested the main accused, Bikash Das, from Tinsukia railway station on Thursday.
“Culprits of both the heinous crimes on running trains at Simaluguri and Mariani have been apprehended and incriminating evidence recovered,” the police force said in a tweet. “We are committed to ensuring justice for citizens and the rule of law.”
During interrogation, Das named Pandey as his accomplice in both crimes, PTI reported. Das confessed before the Railway Protection Force that he and Pandey raped the two women, dumped them in the train toilets and then strangulated them with a scarf. Das was apprehended when a security constable noticed him at the Tinsukia station with a scarf.
The accused said he was going to take a train to Furkating station to commit a similar crime but was apprehended before he could do so. Mobile phones belonging to both women, as well as earrings, a train ticket and one of the anklets of the elderly woman were recovered from him, the police said.
On Wednesday, Lalima Devi, a resident of the state’s Dibrugarh district, was found dead in the Avadh Assam Express. Officials discovered her body at the Mariani station in Jorhat district around 2.20 pm. The previous day, Radha Kumari from Sivasagar district was found dead in the New Tinsukia-Rangiya Express. Her body was discovered around 9.15 am at Simaluguri station.
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