GUWAHATI: It seems like a serial killer is on the loose in the Northeast Frontier Railway and the railways and police have no clue about what’s happening. Two women have been found dead in toilets of two different trains within 24-hrs in identical circumstances and no progress has been made so far by the police.
Murder number 1
The first victim was a B.Sc. Student of College of Agriculture, Jorhat who was found dead on Tuesday under mysterious circumstances inside the toilet of Dibrugarh Rangia (Down) Express. The deceased was later identified as Radha Kumari who was from Sivasagar and lived with her mother, sister and a brother in a rented accommodation. She was travelling to her maternal uncle's home to Golaghat for summer vacation.
As per the mother of the victim when the train left at around 8:45 AM there was only one male passenger in the coach who was dressed in a kurta pajama. The mother has serious doubts about this male passenger. She had also given Rs. 10,000 to her daughter to buy a mobile phone. The money was not recovered from the crime scene which indicates she might have been killed for the money.
Moreover, her body was recovered in semi-nude state with injury marks on her face and a gamusa tied to her neck which has further complicated the matter. Only a proper forensic examination can reveal the actual cause of death and whether she was violated or not.
It takes only 17 minutes for the train to reach Simaluguri Junction from Sivasagar Station so she was possibly murdered within that short time span and dumped in the toilet.
There is no CCTV at Simaluguri Junction and Sivasagar station which points at NFR’s negligence in terms of passengers’ safety. The station master was clueless about why there was no CCTV in the station.
Murder number 2
In the second incident on Wednesday another dead body of a middle-aged woman have been found inside the toilet of a goods coach of the Avadh Assam Express at Mariani Railway Junction. The victim has not been identified yet. She was also found in a semi-nude state with a gamusa tied to her neck and bore injury marks.
Recent Development
A Special Investigating Team (SIT) has been formed by the Assam Police to investigate the murder of Radha Kumari. The Sivasagar Additional Superintendent of Police has been entrusted the duty to lead the investigation and Additional Director General of Police R.P. Meena has been asked to monitor the case. This was informed by Assam DGP Kuladhar Saikia.