A man with a limp and a sweatshirt left behind: How police zeroed in on man who ‘killed on trains’

According to the police, Rahul, who is primitively from Rohtak successful Haryana, utilized to enactment arsenic a waiter astatine a edifice 10 km from the railway station. That day, helium had arrived from Mumbai to the municipality to cod his pending wage from the edifice and was connected his mode backmost erstwhile helium spotted the miss adjacent the railway station. She was heading location from her tuition centre and the railway presumption fell connected the way. Police accidental helium stalked the miss for up to 100 metres from the railway presumption and, arsenic they reached a desolate spot, dragged her into a mango orchard nearby, raped and killed her.

Gujarat Police examined footage from astatine slightest 5,000 CCTV cameras astatine railway stations crossed 4 states to ace the case.

Police accidental that successful his confessions to them, helium said that aft raping the miss a mates of times, helium went backmost to the railway station, bought himself a vessel of a effect portion and a container of milk, drank some and allegedly again went backmost to rape the girl. But by then, her household members, alerted by her lack and who had been tracking her full way from the tuition centre to her home, had arrived astatine the execution spot. Police accidental Rahul hid successful the bushes and watched arsenic the distraught household discovered the assemblage and carried it distant connected a motorbike. Police accidental helium near successful a hurry, leaving down his sweatshirt and the backpack. He past allegedly took the section bid to the adjacent station, from present helium was to question to Mumbai.

The investigation

Valsad territory constabulary main Karanraj Vaghela said that aft they discovered Rahul’s backpack and his black-and-white sweatshirt, they began retracing his footsteps. “The container had 3 jerseys and 2 fractional pants. We suspected that the accused whitethorn person travel from the railway station,” helium said.

Since the railway presumption is without CCTV cameras, the constabulary looked astatine footage from the cameras astatine the adjacent station. That’s erstwhile they spotted a antheral wearing the aforesaid black-and-white sweatshirt, a scarf astir his neck, and carrying the aforesaid achromatic bag. He walked with a limp and was seen boarding a bid headed to Bandra successful Mumbai.

Police past acceptable up 10 teams headed by inspectors who coordinated with the constabulary chiefs successful 4 districts. “On checking the CCTV footage, we got to cognize that helium had travel to Vapi presumption successful Valsad connected a bid from Mumbai. We checked footage from each presumption betwixt Vapi and Mumbai Central and yet spotted him connected the CCTV astatine Dadar presumption (in Mumbai),” Vaghela said.

Meanwhile, constabulary teams successful Gujarat’s Navsari and Surat districts mapped his photograph with jailhouse records, but recovered no captive matching his description. They past checked the nationalist database of prisoners and yet struck a lucifer – Rahul, a nonmigratory of Mokhra Khaas colony successful Haryana’s Rohtak district, had been released from Jodhpur jailhouse successful Rajasthan successful May this year.

Inspector Parkash Chand, Station House Officer of Bahuakbarpur constabulary presumption nether whose jurisdiction Rahul’s Rohtak colony falls, told The Indian Express, “Rahul has 11 FIRs against him successful assorted parts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura and Rajasthan. We got his interaction from his household and enactment his fig nether surveillance.”

Meanwhile, the Gujarat Police, which had been coordinating with the railway constabulary crossed stations successful Mumbai, discovered that Rahul had travelled to Shirdi successful Maharashtra and Machilipatnam successful Andhra Pradesh earlier reaching Mumbai.

The accused

Rahul, who mislaid his begetter a fewer years ago, was allegedly disowned by his parent and brother. Valsad constabulary main Vaghela said, “As a child, Rahul was afflicted with polio successful the near leg. We person reports that helium was bullied by his chap students. While helium was successful Class 5, helium stole a bicycle. He was besides fascinated by trucks but later, arsenic a young man, helium wasn’t allowed to thrust trucks due to the fact that of his disability. So helium started stealing them. Since 2018, 13 cases of motortruck theft person been registered against him crossed constabulary stations successful UP, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.”

According to the dossier maintained by the Haryana Police, Rahul was archetypal arrested successful Mathura (UP) successful August 2015 for stealing a motortruck from Rohtak’s Kalanaur.

Police accidental Rahul stole different motortruck 10 months later, this clip from Narnaul, astir 120 km from Rohtak, connected June 13, 2016. By June 14, 2016, helium was successful Fatehabad’s Bhuna, wherever helium rammed the stolen motortruck into the partition of a godown.

Rahul’s dossier reveals a signifier — bail aft bail from court, peppered with stints successful jail. A seemingly remorseless Rahul would spell connected to bargain 4 much trucks crossed Haryana betwixt 2019 and 2022.

Between stealing trucks, connected January 23, 2021, a lawsuit nether the Arms Act was registered against him successful Bihariganj of Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur for possessing amerciable firearms. He was arrested with different amerciable limb successful Vrindavan, Mathura, a fewer months later. On February 15, 2024, Rahul was booked connected charges of robbery successful the FIR registered by GRP, Jodhpur, Rajasthan astatine constabulary presumption Metra Road.

The different murders

Police accidental that aft his apprehension connected November 24, Rahul confessed to sidesplitting 4 radical – 2 earlier the November 14 execution of the teen successful Valsad and 2 after.

The archetypal of these was October 20. The Andhra Pradesh Police had registered a rape-cum-murder lawsuit aft the Guntkal Gutti railway presumption discovered the assemblage of a middle-aged woman. Rahul had allegedly zeroed successful connected the woman, who was travelling from Pune to Kanyakumari successful a manager reserved for the disabled, and strangled her to death, earlier robbing her.

Five days later, connected October 25, the Karnataka Police recovered the assemblage of a nonmigratory of Dakshina Kannada district. The unfortunate was travelling connected a bid from Benguluru to Murdeshwar successful the authorities erstwhile Rahul allegedly robbed and murdered him. In this lawsuit too, the unfortunate was travelling successful a manager reserved for the specially abled.

Then, 5 days aft helium killed the miss successful Valsad, connected November 19, the cleaning unit astatine Howrah presumption car shed discovered a assemblage lying connected a berth successful the manager reserved for the otherwise abled. The body, covered with a broad and with aggregate stab wounds, was identified arsenic that of a percussionist from Howrah who was returning from Katihar successful Bihar, wherever helium had attended a philharmonic programme. Rahul allegedly confessed to attacking the unfortunate and stealing his belongings, including Rs 10,000 successful currency and his compartment phone.

The past execution that Rahul confessed to was of a woman, a nonmigratory of Sandur successful Karnataka, whose assemblage was discovered by the Secunderabad railway constabulary connected November 24. She, too, had been strangled to decease successful a manager for the otherwise abled.

Hours later, connected November 24, backmost successful Valsad, constabulary main Vaghela got a tip-off: a hawker astatine the Bandra railway presumption had spotted Rahul boarding the Bandra-Bhuj train. The RPF officials astatine Bandra alerted the Gujarat police, who waited astatine Vapi station. As the bid pulled in, constabulary arrested him.

Police accidental they recovered 3 mobile phones from Rahul – 1 of the Valsad unfortunate and the different of the percussionist. Police arrested him nether Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections related to execution and rape, too different charges.

With inputs from Varinder Bhatia successful Haryana and Ravik Bhattacharya successful Kolkata