9 chilling murders, same modus operandi: Serial killer on the prowl in UP's Bareilly?

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Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh witnessed murders of nine women, aged 45-55 over the past 14 months. Police records reveal these gruesome murders have a disturbing but distinct pattern. The victims were found strangled in fields around noon, with their clothes dishevelled but no signs of sex assault.

Cops have not ruled out the possibility of a serial killer since the modus operandi behind these killings is nearly identical.

According to a report in The Times of India, the bodies were found in farms with strangulation marks and clothes dishevelled. The report also adds that the postmortems have ruled out sexual assault in all these cases. Police have released sketches of the suspects.

Nine women have been found murdered over the past 14 months in chillingly identical manner. The rural belt in the shadow of fear runs across two villages under two police stations.

TOI quoted Uttar Pradesh DGP Prashant Kumar: "Our teams have been investigating this case for six months and have not ruled out the possibility of a serial killer due to the nearly identical modus operandi behind the murders. Based on some leads, we have now released sketches of three suspects."

The killings began in June 2023 when the first murder was reported, and the latest victim was a 45-year-old woman found murdered on July 3. The murders continued and by November, the count went up to eight. The trend paused for seven months and resumed with the lastest murder on July 3.

TOI cited Bareilly SSP Anurag Arya in its report, “The pattern is clear — strangulation around noon, bodies dumped in farms, and post-mortem ruling out sexual assault. Our investigations, including electronic surveillance, have hit a dead end.” Officials are now scrutinising details of prisoners recently bailed or released.

The village chief has asked village women to move around in groups for safety.