The Ahmedabad Crime Branch has arrested the prime accused in the brutal double murder of a mother and her daughter in Setha village of Basti district in Uttar Pradesh. Rajesh alias Rajan Upadhyay, who had been on the run for several days, was the subject of a Rs 50,000 bounty.
The victims, 55-year-old health worker Godavari Devi and her 26-year-old unmarried daughter Saumya, were murdered and their bodies set on fire on the night of December 3.
According to Crime Branch officials, the murders were motivated by a property dispute. The victims were set to receive 20 bighas of land following a court hearing on December 5. Fearing they would lose their share of the land, the accused allegedly conspired to murder Devi and Saumya to claim the property.
Rajesh, along with his half-brother Karunakar and other accomplices, executed the crime after multiple failed attempts.
An FIR has been filed at the Kaptanganj Police Station under sections 103(2), 238, 326(g), 3(5), and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita. The investigation revealed that Karunakar had borrowed Rs 3.5 lakh from HCP Plastic Company to fund the crime.
Family Expresses Frustration Over Probe
Sarita, the elder daughter of Godavari Devi, had filed a complaint accusing seven named individuals and two unidentified suspects of involvement in the murder.
She expressed frustration at the pace of the investigation, stating, “The police are not making a wholehearted effort. Otherwise, the murder suspects would not have been roaming free for so many days.”
Despite these concerns, SHO Upendra Mishra assured, “Every possible effort is being made.” To expedite the investigation, a special team comprising local police, the Crime Branch, the Special Operations Group (SOG), Surveillance, and SWAT was formed.
Authorities traced the movements of the accused through mobile Call Detail Records (CDR), discovering that after committing the crime, the suspects travelled across multiple locations, including Nepal, Prayagraj, Haridwar, Mumbai, Gujarat, Sultanpur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, and Ambedkar Nagar.
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