Himalaya Harbinger, Rudrapur Bureau.
The Udham Singh Nagar police on Wednesday arrested Dharmendra Kumar, the prime suspect in the brutal rape and murder of a 33-year-old nurse in Rudrapur, the district headquarters of Udham Singh Nagar. The 40-year old accused is a labourer and is a native of village Tursa Patti in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manjunath TC, while talking to TOI, said that the case began on July 31 when the sister of the victim, a resident of Vasundhara Colony in the Dibdiba area, lodged a complaint about her elder sister’s disappearance at Rudrapur police station. In response, four teams comprising city police and Special Operations Group (SOG) officers were deployed to investigate the case.
“The police immediately put the woman’s mobile phone under surveillance and reviewed footage from over 500 CCTV cameras across the region,” said SSP Manjunath TC. “On August 8, during our search, the missing woman’s skeletal remains were discovered near the road leading from Dibdiba to Vasundhara Colony.”
Based on surveillance data, the police launched an intensive manhunt across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan, the police finally held Dharmendra in Jodhpur West, Rajasthan.
During interrogation, Dharmendra confessed to the crime, revealing that he had taken advantage of the darkness on the night of July 30 to assault the victim. He admitted to raping her in a secluded area before strangling her with her scarf and smashing her head with a brick. He then fled the scene with Rs 3,000 in cash and the victim’s mobile phone. “We are currently investigating the accused’s criminal history”, added SSP Manjunath.
