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BAHAWALPUR, Nov 19: Police have failed to arrest the alleged killer of nine women who had been murdered during the last one year in the suburbs of Ahmadpur East city.
Of them, four women were murdered in the jurisdiction of city police while the remaining were killed in the area of Saddar police.
The killer had strangled four women with their dupattas and killed the others by cutting their necks with a sharp-edged weapon. He hadn’t raped any of them or removed jewellery worn by them. The women were between 40 and 60 years of age. The maniac had killed a woman in December last, the second in April and seven in just two months of the year, October and November.
CITY: The first incident was reported on Dec 12, 2001, from Dera Nawab Sahib in the cantonment area, from where the body of Manzoor, a Baloch by caste, a resident of Mauza Mehrabwala, about five kilometres from Ahmadpur East, was recovered. A case was registered under Section 174 (accidental death).
The second incident was reported on April 13 last when the body of Sarwar, a resident of Mauza Tibbi Aarble, was found. Police also termed it an accidental death.
City police registered two murder cases on Oct 14 and 26. The first victim was identified as Hanif, widow of Dilawar Husain, while the second body has not yet been identified. The bodies were recovered from the areas adjacent to 6/L canal and Al-Khair Cotton Factory, Bahawalpur Road, Ahmadpur East.
SADDAR: On Oct 22 and Nov 6, the Saddar police registered cases under Section 174 PPC after recovering the bodies of two unidentified women from Mauza Gharibpur and Tibbi Izzat.
Sakina, the widow of Karim Bakhsh, was found murdered on Nov 7. She was a resident of Shamas Colony, Satellite Town.
On Nov 13, another woman named Sakina, was found murdered near Basti Nonanwali. She was the grandmother of a local newsman. She went to bazaar to purchase shoes and went missing.
The body of an unidentified woman was recovered from the sugar cane fields near Mauza Tibbi Izzat on Nov 14.
Police have now started serious efforts to trace the killer. They have formed citizens committees to find the murderer. They have been visiting and questioning the residents of the areas from where the bodies were recovered. Ahmadpur East THQ Hospital medical officer Dr Asifa, who conducted postmortem examinations on all the bodies, told this scribe that the killer used the same method to kill the women. He used their dupattas to strangulate them and used a sharp-edged weapon to cut their necks.
SKETCH: Meanwhile, the district police released the sketch of the suspect on Monday night.
The sketch, according to police, had been prepared on the information collected from two women who foiled the attempt of the suspect. The women were taken to Multan on Monday where the sketch was prepared.
Police have announced a cash award of Rs10,000 for providing information about the killer.
