Protest in Jharkhand over rape and murder of two girls

A shutdown was called by the residents of Jharkhand's district headquarters town of Deoghar Saturday to protest against the failure of police in cracking last month's rape and murder case involving two teenaged girls.

The shutdown was called by the Deoghar Nagrik Manch and was supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The bodies of the girls were recovered from a pond near Jasidih town of Deoghar district, about 300 km from here, on May 26 night.

Although police have arrested one person in connection with the case, they have failed to make any significant headway in the case.

"Police are yet to get any clue in the case. It is their duty to crack the case to restore the faith of people in police," said Nishikant Dubey, the BJP MP from Godda, under which Deoghar falls.

Vijay Kumar, advisor of Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed reached Deoghar Saturday to take stock of the situation.

"We have formed a high level team to crack the case. The state CID (Criminal Investigation Department) is also assisting the local police in the investigation," Kumar said.

Senior CID officials have been sent from the state capital Ranchi to Deoghar. The pond in which the dead bodies were recovered has been emptied for collecting evidences.

Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) chief and former chief minister Babulal Marndi has threatened to stage a sit-in demonstration from Sunday.