Protest erupts in Jharkhand’s Giridih after bodies of two women recovered from forest

Giridih (Jharkhand), Sep 9 The bodies of two women who had been missing since Thursday from the Gawan police station area in Jharkhand’s Giridih district were recovered from the Golgo Pahari forest late Monday evening, officials said on Tuesday.

Police have arrested Shrikant Chaudhary, a resident of Kharsan village, on charges of murdering the two women -- Soni Devi (23) and Rinku Devi (31), both residents of Neemadhi village.

The police’s preliminary investigation suggests the women were strangled to death. Their bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination.

According to police, Soni Devi, though married, was in a relationship with Shrikant Chaudhary, which had led to a dispute in the village two years ago. A panchayat had declared the affair “illegal” and fined Chaudhary Rs 1.7 lakh. Despite this, the relationship continued.

Soni’s family alleged that Shrikant Chaudhary had recently threatened her, saying he would kill her if she stopped speaking to him.

Last Thursday, Soni went to collect leaves in the forest with her neighbour Rinku, after which both went missing.

Two days later, Soni’s mother lodged a missing persons complaint with the Gawan police station. She suspected Chaudhary’s involvement in the murder. She even handed over her daughter’s mobile phone to the police.

Call detail records led investigators to Shrikant Chaudhary, who, during interrogation, confessed to the crime. Based on his disclosure, police recovered the bodies from the Golgo hill forest, about four km from Neemadhi village.

The incident triggered widespread anger in the area. On Tuesday, hundreds of villagers, along with the victims’ families, staged a protest outside Gawan police station, accusing police of negligence. They also alleged that police demanded bribes to search the bodies. The mob also demanded that the accused be handed over to them.

Police station in-charge Abhishek Singh said Shrikant Chaudhary is being interrogated further. Additional forces have been deployed at the police station to prevent any untoward incident.

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