Zirakpur woman found dead in Rajpura: Prime accused, two aides nabbed after 4-day chase

Four days after a 23-year-old Zirakpur woman was found dead in a rivulet in Rajpura on Monday, police cracked the case on Friday with the arrest of the prime accused and his two accomplices.

Hot on the trail of the accused since the body’s discovery, police nabbed the trio—Sultan Mohammad and his two accomplices Amandeep and Raj—from the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border on Friday.

Another accomplice, Rohit, was already arrested on Tuesday, leading to recovery of the Hyundai i20 car (HP09-B-0467) in which the victim was allegedly abducted. All accused are aged between 20 and 25, said police.

The victim, a resident of Badal Colony, Zirakpur, had gone missing from her house on March 7, following which her family had also lodged a missing person complaint. Three days later, her body was found in a rivulet near Banur in Rajpura.

According to police, she worked for a private firm in IT Park, Panchkula. Her father runs a shop and her mother is a housewife, while her twin sister is settled in Canada.

The family had refused to cremate the victim’s body till all accused were arrested.

After the arrest of all accused, the last rites were held on Saturday, with Dera Bassi MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa in attendance.

Accused found suspicious messages in victim’s phone: Police

Investigators claimed that accused Sultan Mohammad was in a relationship with the victim for over three years and wanted to marry her. “They decided to elope and he picked her up with his accomplices on March 7. But later, he found suspicious text messages of another man in her mobile phone. This enraged him and in a fit of rage, he strangled his girlfriend. He then dumped her body in a rivulet after wrapping the body with tarpaulin with the help of his accomplices,” a police officer, not wishing to be named, said.

“Following its discovery, the body was sent for autopsy to the Rajpura civil hospital. We have yet to get the autopsy report that we clarify the exact cause of death,” the officer added.

However, the woman’s father alleged in his complaint that Sultan Mohammad had been harassing his daughter for several months and kidnapped her with the help of his accomplices. Police have denied any communal angle in the case.

All accused are facing charges under Sections 140 (1) (kidnapping), 103 (murder) and 3(5) ( act done by several persons) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Zirakpur police station.