Uttarakhand police form SIT to investigate rape and murder of 33-year-old nurse

The Uttarakhand police on Tuesday constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged rape and murder of a 33-year-old nurse hailing from the Rudrapur area of US Nagar district on July 30, said police.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) US Nagar, Manjunath TC said a SIT has been constituted to investigate the alleged loot, rape and murder case of the nurse who worked at a private hospital in Rudrapur.

“For a thorough investigation in this sensitive matter and to clear any doubts and suspicions of the victim’s family, we have formed a SIT into the rape and murder case. The SIT will be headed by SP (city) Manoj Katyal. SP(crime) Chandrashekhar Ghodke will supervise the SIT. SIT will collect all quality evidence through technical and forensic angles so that the court awards the accused punishment. SIT will also look into suspicious involvement of other people in the murder and conspiracy,” the SSP said.

On August 13, the US Nagar police arrested a man from the Jodhpur area of Rajasthan for allegedly raping and murdering the nurse near the Uttarakhand-Uttar Pradesh border on the UP side, while she was returning home. According to police, the 33-year-old woman used to work as a nurse in a private hospital on Nainital Road in the Rudrapur area of US Nagar. She went to work on July 30 but didn’t return home. The next day, her sister filed a missing complaint at Rudrapur police station as she hadn’t come home the previous night.

Later her body was recovered from near a colony in the Bilaspur area of UP near the Uttarakhand-UP border on August 8. The body was identified but her purse and mobile phone were missing. Rudrapur police started an investigation into the matter and found her mobile phone’s location in the Jodhpur area of Rajasthan. Police reached Jodhpur and tracked the man. He was identified as Dharmendra Kumar (28) of Shahi in Bareilly district. He is a daily labourer. During questioning the accused revealed that finding the nurse alone on July 30 he first looted her, then raped her and at last, strangulated her to death.

Five teams of the Uttarakhand Police had to check footage of over 500 CCTV cameras, carry out an intense surveillance to nab the accused before travelling to Jodhpur, around 800 kms from the crime scene.