Cuttack: In a swift and coordinated operation, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) at Cuttack successfully arrested a fugitive wanted for the kidnapping and murder of a six-year-old girl in Bengaluru.
The accused, Yusuf Mir (35) was nabbed on January 7 from the SMVT Bengaluru–Howrah Express at Cuttack railway station. He was travelling in a general coach along with his wife and son, apparently attempting to flee towards his native place in West Bengal.
The arrest stemmed from intelligence shared by the Cuttack DCP, alerting the RPF to the suspect’s movements.
Bengaluru Police had formally requested assistance after registering a case at Whitefield Police Station, invoking sections related to kidnapping, murder, and related offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
A special RPF team, led by sub-inspector G Santosh, conducted a thorough search of the train upon its arrival at platform number 1 around 12.50 am. The operation was supervised by the inspector-in-charge of RPF Cuttack. The Bengaluru Police team, which had flown to Bhubaneswar to pursue the suspect on the same train, commended the RPF’s prompt action and professionalism under Operation Rail Prahari.
Yusuf Mir, , a scrap collector from South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, allegedly committed the crime over over a trivial dispute with her family. He kidnapped the girl around 11 am on Tuesday as he was angry with her parents and allegedly strangled her to death using a nylon rope. The victim’s body was found dumped in a drain near Nallurahalli under Whitefield police limits around midnight on January 6. The families of the victim and Yusuf, all daily-wagers, were neighbours in Pattandur Agrahara.
After initial interrogation and formalities, the accused and his wife were handed over to the Bengaluru Police at the RPF Post in Cuttack. A local court subsequently granted a two-day transit remand, enabling the team to transport him back to Karnataka for further proceedings.