Missing For 8 Months, Remains Of 18-Year-Old Woman Found In Jharkhand's Bokaro

The skeletal remains of an 18-year-old woman, who had been missing for eight months, were recovered in Jharkhand's Bokaro district, police said on Sunday.

The remains, including bones and hair, were recovered on Saturday from a secluded area near Chas College in the Pindrajora police station area, Superintendent of Police Harvinder Singh said.

The accused, identified as Dinesh Kumar Mahto, was apprehended following analysis of the victim's mobile phone call detail records and other technical inputs, he said.

"During sustained interrogation based on technical, circumstantial and human evidence, the accused confessed to the crime," Singh said.

The victim and the accused had been in contact for nearly three years. The woman was allegedly pressuring him to marry her, which led him to plot the murder, he said.

On July 21 last year, when the victim had gone to Chas College for admission to a graduation course, Mahto allegedly met her and took her to an isolated spot about 1.5 km away, he added.

Singh said he stabbed her to death there, hid the body in bushes and disposed of the blood-stained knife while returning.

During the probe, the accused led investigators to the crime scene, resulting in the recovery of 19 bone fragments, strands of hair, the victim's clothes and the murder weapon, police said.

The victim's mother had lodged a complaint on July 24, alleging that her daughter had been kidnapped.

A case was subsequently registered at the Pindrajora police station on August 4 under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against unknown persons.

The case later drew judicial scrutiny after the victim's mother approached the Jharkhand High Court, which pulled up DGP Tadasha Mishra over the alleged assault of a relative of the girl.

A division bench headed by Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad questioned Mishra on why criminal action had not been initiated against the SP in connection with alleged lapses.

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