On Hyderabad outskirts, cops struggle to crack cases of charred bodies

Hyderabad: The grisly killing of veterinary doctor Disha (name changed), whose body was set afire, is a pattern of crime that the Rangareddy police in Telangana are struggling to unravel. While the police say they are close to hunting down Disha killers, they have come across at least three charred bodies, all women, in the past nine months.

The cops under Cyberabad commissionerate have not been able to even establish the identity of the three victims, leave alone the killers, said sources.

In April, the burnt body of a woman, believed to be in her early 30s, was found on the outskirts of Narsingi. It was suspected that the victim might have been killed at a different place and the body was dumped at the spot and set on fire. The killers had ensured that the body was completely charred to make it difficult for the police to identify her.

Days before, a woman's charred body had been found at Chevella. Barring the legs, it was totally burnt. Based on her toe rings, the police confirmed she was a married woman.

In March, another woman's body was found at Tondupally of Shamshabad. Though she was wearing a Punjabi dress and had a locket with Tamil inscription around her neck, her identity could not be traced. Moreover, the police found that a car had been at the spot, but the CCTV cameras that captured the vehicle could not prove to be of much help.

Police sources said isolated and unguarded outskirts are becoming the safest locations for criminals to dump bodies. The lack of CCTV cameras is also hampering the probe into such attacks on women.