Gujarat teen rape, murder: Valsad Police to probe accused’s role in 2 more murders, seek NCRB data

During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to have committed four more murders, all in coaches for the differently abled, in trains in October-November.

The alleged involvement of Rahul Jat in the murders on trains came to light following his arrest in the rape and murder of a 19-year-old girl in Valsad on November 14. (Express photo) (Express)

Written by: Kamaal Saiyed

4 min readAhmedabadNov 30, 2024 04:03 AM IST First published on: Nov 30, 2024 at 03:51 AM IST

Could the “serial killer” who was recently held for five murders, including four inside moving trains, have been involved in more cases?
To explore this possibility, the Valsad police has written to the Gujarat State Crime Records Bureau to seek information from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to get details of bodies recovered across the country from coaches reserved for the differently abled in the past two years. In particular, police are questioning the accused, Rahul Jat, for his possible involvement in the recovery of two bodies in different trains in Kerala and Chhattisgarh earlier this year, officials said.

The alleged involvement of Jat in the murders on trains came to light following his arrest in the rape and murder of a 19-year-old girl in a mango orchard in Valsad on November 14. A resident of Rohtak in Haryana, Jat was arrested on November 24.

During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to have committed four more murders, all in coaches for the differently abled, in trains in October-November. The cases were registered in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana and Karnataka. While the murders were primarily committed for robbery, police said, he also sexually assaulted three of the victims, including a man.

Jat is presently in a 10-day remand of Valsad police.

Talking to The Indian Express, Valsad district Superintendent of Police Dr Karanraj Vaghela said, “The accused has confessed to have committed five murders. His modus operandi is to rob the passengers travelling in coaches for the differently abled in trains. Seeing his involvement in crimes in moving trains, we have sought details of bodies recovered inside trains, especially in coaches for the differently abled, in the past two years. Once we get that data, we will question him over his involvement.”

He further said, “We are presently coordinating with Kerala and Chhattisgarh police as two bodies were recovered from the trains there a few months ago. We are gathering more information from them about the bodies and will question Jat accordingly. We will also match his mobile phone locations to find out his possible involvement in the crime.”

According to the police, Jat used to work as a waiter at a hotel 10 km from the railway station in Valsad where he spotted the 19-year-old girl who was heading home from her tuition centre. Police said he stalked the girl for up to 100 metres from the railway station and, as they reached a desolate spot, allegedly dragged her into a mango orchard nearby, raped and killed her.

Police said that in his confessions to them, he said that after raping the girl a couple of times and strangling her, he went back to the railway station, bought himself a bottle of a fruit drink and a bag of milk, drank both and allegedly went back to rape the girl. But by then, her family members, alerted by her absence and who had been tracking her entire path from the tuition centre to her home, had arrived at the murder spot.

Police said Rahul hid in the bushes and watched as the family discovered the body and carried it away on a motorbike. Police say he left in a hurry, leaving behind his sweatshirt and a backpack, which eventually helped in identifying him.