72 hours on, cops clueless about identity of victim and killer

LUCKNOW: Three days after a woman’s chopped off head and limbs were found in a bag left on a bench opposite the Dr RML National Law University in Krishna Nagar, Lucknow, and two days after her missing torso was recovered 10km away in Para, the police are still clueless about her identity and her killers.

A forensic team on Monday confirmed that all the body parts belonged to the same person.

Although the police found CCTV footage that showed a man carrying the bag in which the victim’s limbs and head were found, due to poor image quality, there has been no headway in ascertaining his identity.

The investigators have now shifted focus from Krishna Nagar to Para.

“Our investigation in the first 48 hours did not reveal much. So, we are concentrating on Para

›

Criminals usually dump heavier parts closer to the murder site. It appears the killer chopped her body in Para, disposed of the torso and then came to Krishna Nagar to dispose of the rest.

LAL PRATAP SINGH, circle officer, Krishna Nagar

area now where the woman’s torso was found,” said senior superintendent of police (SSP), Lucknow, Kalanidhi Naithani. The officer said he was personally monitoring the probe.

The other reason for shifting focus to Para, he said, was the theory that murderer would have first disposed of the torso, as it was heavier.

“Criminals usually dump heavier body parts closer to the site of the murder. In this case, it appears that the killer chopped her body in Para, disposed of the torso and then came to Krishna Nagar to dispose of the rest,” said the circle officer (CO) of Krishna Nagar, Lal Pratap Singh.

The CO met other members of the investigating team at the Para police station on Monday. “First, we want to identify the woman and the man seen in the CCTV camera footage. We are taking the support of surveillance and forensics teams as well as the local intelligence unit,” he said.

Police stations in Lucknow and neighbouring districts as well as the Government Railway Police (GRP) have been alerted to share inputs that might prove to be relevant in cracking the case.

Cops were also looking into recently lodged missing person reports to get clues and had appealed to the general public too to come forward if they had any information in the matter.