Lucknow, May 21 (IANS): Three people including the father of a 16-year-old girl have been arrested by the Government Railway Police in connection with a suspected honour killing after the victim’s mutilated body was discovered stuffed inside a box in the S1 coach of the Chhapra-Gomti Nagar Express at Gomti Nagar Railway Station in Lucknow, with the body cut into six pieces and the head missing. The accused have been identified as the victim’s father Viggan Ansari, 44, her aunt Noorjahan, 55, and her uncle Mojibulla Ansari, 65, all arrested from Kushinagar district following an extensive investigation. The gruesome discovery was made on May 17 when railway staff noticed an unclaimed box underneath a seat in the sleeper coach, and upon opening it, the GRP team found the teenage girl’s dismembered remains. Two “banka” weapons allegedly used in the murder and dismemberment were recovered from the accused during the arrest operation, according to SP Railway Rohit Mishra.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased, identified as Shabba, was allegedly involved in a love affair that reportedly angered her family, with police suspecting that the father along with his sister and brother-in-law killed the girl before chopping the body into pieces in an attempt to conceal the crime and mislead investigators. CCTV footage from Tamkuhi Railway Station in Kushinagar district provided crucial leads that helped investigators identify and trace the accused. Police teams are continuing efforts to recover the victim’s missing head, with search operations launched in Kushinagar district and along areas bordering Bihar. The accused are currently being interrogated while further investigation into the brutal killing remains underway.