Two Women Murdered in Assam in 36 Hours, Teaseller Held

Police arrested Bikash Das, a teaseller at Tinsukia Station as the primary suspect in both murders.

Bikash Das, the primary suspect was arrested by police on 12 July.

(Photo: The Quint)

Two women were found murdered on two different trains travelling on the same route in Assam in a span of 36 hours, police said on Thursday, 12 July.

A day after a young girl was murdered in a running train in Assam, the Railway police in Assam's Jorhat district recovered the body of a woman from the goods compartment of the Awadh Assam Express, which runs on the same route, on Wednesday, 11 July, IANS reported.

On Tuesday, 11 July, the body of another girl had been recovered from the toilet of a train at Simaluguri station in Sivsagar district, Hindustan Times reported.

“The train arrived at Mariani station around 1.40 pm on Wednesday. The body was found in a semi nude position and a red scarf was tied to her neck,” police said. 

Don’t Suspect Sexual Assault: Police

At the outset, Assam police said that did not suspect sexual assault as the clothes of the victims, in both instances, had not been touched.

However, they added, that they couldn’t dismiss the possibility of sexual assault until forensic reports came back.

They also added that no signs of theft had been reported from either victim.

Police Arrest Tea Seller On Suspicions of Murder

Assam police arrested a tea seller, Bikash Das, who works at the New Tinsukia Railway Station as the primary suspect of the murder, The Quint confirmed.

Bikash Das, a teaseller at New Tinsukia Railway Station has been arrested and named as the primary suspect in both murders.(Photo: The Quint)

Das was seen on CCTV a few days ago boarding the train while carrying a gamusa, police confirmed to The Quint.

ANI, quoting police, reported that Bikash Das had also confessed to the murders.

Police Suspect Same Killer in Both Murders

The police added that there were a number of uncanny similarities in both murders.

• Both victims hailed from Bihar
• Both victims were found strangled in the train’s lavatory
• Both victims had marks on their necks similar to strangulation.
• A traditional Assamese scarf, called a gamusa, was recovered from the scenes of both crimes.

Incident 1

The body of a 21-year-old student of Assam Agriculture University (AAU) was recovered from the toilet of the New Tinsukia-Rangiya Express on Tuesday, 11 July morning, Hindustan Times reported.

The victim was found in a compartment for the differently-abled onboard the train, the report added.

Her body was reportedly found by a sweeper at Simaluguri station around 9.15 am, barely 20 minutes after she had boarded the train from Sivasagar.

The victim, Radha Kumari, reportedly, studied in Assam Agriculture University (Jorhat) and was on her way from Sivasagar to meet her uncle in Golaghat.

According to Radha’s mother, she was carrying Rs 10,000 to buy a mobile phone.

Incident 2

In the second incident on Wednesday, 12 July, police said that the body of a 45-year-old woman was spotted in the goods compartment of the Awadh Assam Express at Mariani station in Assam’s Jorhat district, according to IANS.

“The train arrived at Mariani station around 1.40 p.m. on Wednesday. The body was found in a semi nude position and a red scarf was tied to her neck,” police said.

Police said the woman boarded the train at 9.40 am on Wednesday from Banipur railway station in Dibrugarh. Her body was discovered by a sweeper approximately an hour after she was murdered.

(With inputs from IANS and Hindustan Times)