LUCKNOW, APR 19,
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday arrested four persons on charges of shooting dead two teenage sisters in Etawah.
The police said a failed love affair was the motive for the crime. The discovery of the bullet-riddled bodies of the girls in a field near Kailamu village in Etawah on Tuesday had sent shock waves across the region.
The girls, aged around 17-18 and 13-14, went missing from their home on Monday night after they ventured out to relieve themselves.
The four arrested were identified as Vineet alias Jeetu Jatav, Ativeer Jatav, Ranjeet Singh and Anand Babu. Vineet is suspected to be the main accused.
According to the Etawah police, Vineet had been involved in an affair with the elder sister for a while but she had gradually started distancing herself from him.
She was also getting closer to another boy, to which Vineet objected and the two had several arguments over it, the police said.
On Monday evening, Vineet and three of his friends assembled at a tubewell near the village. The four were in a drunken state. “The accused used a mobile phone to lure the victim to the field.The victim came there with her younger sister,” said Etawah SSP Ashok Tripathi in a statement. In the field, an argument ensued between the girl and the boys, two of whom, Ativeer Jatav and Ranjeet Singh, caught hold of the elder sister as Vineet shot her, the police said. The fourth accused, Anand Babu, caught hold of the younger sister, who was also shot dead by Vineet as she was the only witness to the crime, the police added.
Soon after the discovery of the bodies, the police lodged a case under IPC Section 302 (murder) and Sections 7 and 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), pertaining to sexual assault. However, SHO Basrehar Vinay Diwakar said the autopsy ruled out sexual assault.
