Ludhiana: Self-styled godman held for murdering 22-yr-old after rape, dumps body in fields

Police said that the 22-year-old had gone missing on February 26 following which her father had filed a police complaint and an FIR was registered. Police started looking for her and on Thursday, after initial probe, the accused Sambodh Das (35), who hails from Uttarakhand and runs his one-room ashram in Phullanwal Enclave, was arrested. On questioning, he confessed that the woman had come alone to his ashram to seek a remedy for getting a job. Police said that the accused also confessed that first he raped her and then strangled her to death. Later, he dumped her body in village Daad after packing it in a plastic bag.

Police said that the woman was a graduate and used to work as a manager in an automobile company before the lockdown was imposed due to Covid-19. After losing her job in the lockdown, she was on a job hunt.

ADCP-3 Sameer Verma said that parents of the woman had contacted police on February 26. Her mobile phone was also switched off following which an FIR was registered at division number 5 police station under the Section 346 (wrongful confinement in secret) of IPC against unidentified accused.

The ADCP said that during the investigation the police found that the woman had last spoken to the accused on phone on February 26. Police traced woman’s last location as that of the ashram where she had visited the accused.

When the police questioned the accused, he confessed that he kept the body for four hours in the ashram waiting for the night. In the night he had dumped the body in the fields of village Daad after packing it in a plastic bag.

Victim’s father is a fruit vendor and she was looking for a job to help him financially.