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BOKARO: The skeletal remains of an 18-year-old woman, who had been missing for the past eight months, have been recovered in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district, police said on Sunday. According to officials, the remains — including bones and strands of hair — were found on Saturday in a secluded area near Chas College under the Pindrajora police station limits.
Superintendent of Police Harvinder Singh confirmed the recovery. The accused, identified as Dinesh Kumar Mahto, was arrested after investigators analysed the victim’s mobile phone call detail records along with other technical evidence, the SP said, according to news agency PTI.“During sustained interrogation based on technical, circumstantial and human evidence, the accused confessed to the crime,” Singh said. Police revealed that the victim and the accused had been in contact for nearly three years. The woman had allegedly been pressuring him to marry her, which, according to investigators, led him to plan the murder. On July 21 last year, the victim had gone to Chas College to seek admission to a graduation course. Mahto allegedly met her there and took her to an isolated location about 1.5 km away. Singh said the accused stabbed her to death at the spot, concealed the body in nearby bushes, and disposed of the blood-stained knife while returning.
During the course of the investigation, the accused later led police to the crime scene. Officials recovered 19 bone fragments, strands of hair, the victim’s clothes, and the murder weapon from the area. The victim’s mother had initially filed a complaint on July 24, alleging that her daughter had been kidnapped. A case was registered on August 4 at Pindrajora police station under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against unidentified persons. The case also came under judicial scrutiny after the victim’s mother approached the Jharkhand High Court. The court had pulled up DGP Tadasha Mishra over the alleged assault of a relative of the victim. A division bench led by Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad questioned Mishra on why criminal proceedings had not been initiated against the SP over the alleged lapses in the case.
