Jewar highway gangrape-murder case: UP STF nabs 5th accused after two years

Over two years after the horrific gangrape of four women and murder of a man of a family on Jewar-Bulandshahr highway, the Uttar Pradesh police Tuesday arrested a nomadic Bawariya community youth for his alleged involvement in the case.

Accused Monu alias Kanhaiya Singh, a member of the nomadic Bawariya gang, which allegedly committed the heinous crime was arrested by UP police's Special Task Force sleuths from Jewar town at around 12.30 am Tuesday, said officials.

Monu had been on run for the last two years, they said.

On May 24, 2017 night, the gang had waylaid a car after inflating its tyres by a spiked wooden stick on the highway to rob its passengers.

But after finding four women in the car, they gang-raped them and shot dead the husband of one of them who resisted their attempts.

The sensational incident had sent shock waves across the country, triggering massive criticism of law and order situation in the state under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Four other accused in the case were arrested in July 2017 following an encounter with the UP police.

The Noida unit of STF had received an input from credible sources last night that Monu, the accused in the loot, gang-rape and murder case of 2017, would be coming to Jewar from Haryana on a motorcycle," said STF's Deputy Superintendent of Police Raj Kumar Mishra.

"The input was developed further and shared with the local police. Officials were deployed and Monu was arrested around 12.30 am from Jewar, he added.

A firearm along with ammunition too was seized from his possession and his motorcycle was also impounded, he said.

During interrogation, Monu confessed to his involvement along with other members of the gang in the crime, said Mishra, adding he is the son of another accused Jay Singh in the same case.

Singh is presently in judicial custody, he added.

Earlier a reward of Rs 50,000 had been declared for information leading to the arrest of Monu, a native of Alwar district in Rajasthan.

He has already been booked for various penal offences including dacoity with murder (S396 of the IPC) and gangrape(376D ), said the DySP.

A new charge under the Arms Act has been pressed against him and further proceedings are being carried out at the Jewar police station, he added.