Bijnor police on Friday recovered the charred body of an unidentified woman, tied to a cot, in a mango orchard, 5 km from Bijnor Kotwali police station, on Friday evening.
The woman, in her late 20s, was shot dead before being set ablaze by unidentified assailants, said police, adding that the possibility of rape cannot be ruled out. “Though she is yet to be identified, it seems that she belonged to a well-to-do family as she was wearing gold earrings and also a gold bangle on her right hand. The body has been sent for post-mortem. We have also recovered one bullet and one cartridge near the remains of the woman,” Ramesh Chand Sharma, in-charge of Bijnor Kotwali police station told The Sunday Express over phone.
The police said that the body was spotted on the Gajraula-Shiv Jhalra village link road by a person heading to a tubewell in his mango orchard. “After being informed, we rushed to the spot and took the body in our possession. It is difficult for us to know whether she was burnt by petrol-diesel or kerosene. It appears that she was raped before being killed, but we cannot say anything with certainty yet. We have sent her details to police stations to see if any missing report has been filed,” said Sharma.