Four murders within 24 hours rock UP's Ballia district

VARANASI: Panic gripped Ballia as four murders rocked the district in 24 hours. A 56-year-old retired Indian Navy personnel was killed at his residence in Kotwali area on Friday night. A Dalit woman and her daughter were murdered at their house in Bhimpura police station area, while a 16-year-old girl was killed by a young man in Sikanderpur police station area on Friday. The police are investigating the murders.
According to reports, the retired serviceman Ramesh Pratap Singh was found murdered in the lawns of his house in New Baheri locality of Ballia on late Friday night.His throat was slit by a sharp-edged weapon. Senior police officials reached the site after being informed. The dog squad was called and the CCTV footage are being checked to work out the case. Ramesh’s body was sent for postmortem. An FIR was lodged against unidentified persons under Section 302 of IPC. Ballia SP Devendra Nath said that the matter was being investigated.
In another incident, a 16-year-old girl Ritika Sahani was allegedly murdered by a youth identified as Sayyad Ali in broad daylight in a field in Narayanpur Mathiya village in Sikanderpur area of Ballia. The villagers caught the youth and handed him over to the police. The SP also visited the village to take account of the incident. Heavy police force has been deployed in the village to avert any untoward incident.
Two women Surjawati Devi (54) and her daughter Rani (21) were also found murdered in the Dalit basti of Ahirauli village in Bhimpura area of Ballia on Friday.
Surjawati’s husband Virendra Ram lives away in Varanasi as he is posted in Varanasi’s electricity department. A villager found Surjawati and Rani murdered and informed the police. The police sent the bodies for postmortem. According to Ballia SP, they were killed with a blunt object. Police have detained a few persons for interrogation. Further investigation is underway.