Bareilly ‘saree’ murders: Ninth woman murdered in UP district, 'psycho killer' on the run

The most recent victim was Urmila Devi, wife of a farmer in the Jagdishpur village. She had gone to a field to collect fodder for her animals on Sunday afternoon, but did not return home, the report added.

Later in the day, her husband found her broken bangles on a roadside, about 400 metres from the village.

Soon after, Urmila's body was found wrapped in a bedsheet. She was reportedly strangled by her own saree. During inspection, police officials found injury marks on the back of her head.

Shishgarh Police launched an investigation into the matter and sent the victim's body for post-mortem.

After the recent killings, ADG (Bareilly zone) Prem Chand Meena, accompanied by Inspector General of Police, Bareilly, Rakesh Singh and SSP Sushil Chandrabhan Ghule, visited the Jagdishpur village on Monday to take stock of the situation, according to a Times of India report.

Rakesh Singh informed that police have found many similarities between Urmila Devi's case and the other eight crimes reported in the past five months in the district.

Following the recent murders, surveillance has been increased in the district and two special teams have been formed to crack the cases, the PTI report added.

Singh said that one of the two teams will work directly on the cases, while the other has been asked to collect inputs from all the village chiefs and persons concerned. Moreover, police personnel in plain clothes will be deployed in the region.

Mukesh Pratap Singh, ASP (crime), told Hindustan Times that it is still not clear whether these murders are interconnected or not.

“It is also not sure whether it is the work of one person or different people. But, residents suspect the involvement of a psychopath in the region,” he said.

Looking at the current situation, police are conducting meetings with locals in different villages of the Bareilly district to spread awareness among the people.