Main accused lands in police net

RANCHI: Police on Thursday arrested the prime accused in the brutal murder case, in which a woman was stripped, beheaded and her body was dumped in a forest in Ranchi’s Ormanjhi block.

The accused, identified as Md Sheikh Bilal, has been arrested from Kute village under Ormanjhi police station, said Ranchi superintendent of police (rural) Naushad Alam.

Alam said, “The accused is being interrogated about the incident and evidences including the weapon and a piece of cloth, belonging to the victim, hidden by the accused have been seized . Bilal would be sent to jail on Friday.”

The beheaded body of the lady was found in Ormanjhi on January 3. Criticism had encircled the government as the police could not arrest the culprit or trace the victim’s head for few days. A group of people protesting the gruesome killing had also attacked the chief minister’s convoy on January 4.

Police announced a reward of ₹25,000 on any leads about the beheaded lady. The reward amount was increased to ₹50,000 a day after and to ₹5 lakh the next day.

Police sources said after announcement of the reward money, nobody was ready to give place to Bilal and he was escaping here and there.

On Monday, police released four different pictures of Md Bilal, seeking information about his whereabouts, after announcing him as the prime accused in the case.

The police on Tuesday got a breakthrough in the case by tracing out the missing head.

It was dug out from a farmland in Chandwe. The breakthrough was made following revelations made by a woman, who happens to be the wife of Bilal.