Chandigarh police to share serial rapist & killer’s DNA profile with other states

UT police will be sharing the DNA profile of the alleged serial rapist and killer, whose was involvement has been established in at least three rape-murder cases in Chandigarh.

The accused, Monu Kumar, a taxi driver, is currently in judicial custody for the rape and murder a 22-year-old MBA student in Sector 38 West in July 2010, a 40-year-old woman from Maloya in January 2022, and a 55-year-old woman in the forest area of Sector 54 on February 28 this year.

According to the police, Himachal Pradesh has reported two cases with modus operandi similar to the three cases in Chandigarh. The accused in both cases have not been traced.

As per the police, Kumar used to frequently travel to Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana for work, and thus, there is suspicion he may have committed crimes in these states. Kumar, had, in the past, been arrested for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba but was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Police are now sending the DNA samples collected from the 2010 and 2024 victims’ clothes to match it with that of the accused. Police said the DNA report will be crucial in all three cases.

In the 2010 and 2022 cases, Kumar had strategically chose rainy days to commit the crime, ensuring that the victim’s cries for help would get muffled. He also incapacitated his victims, taking advantage of the wet ground. Police said that in both cases, rain had washed away crucial crime scene evidence.

Was prime suspect last year, murdered in February again

Kumar, after being identified as the prime suspect in the 2010 and 2022 rape and murder cases, came under police scrutiny after his blood samples were collected in August 2023 and sent to the forensic lab to confirm his involvement in the crimes.

Despite remaining a prime suspect for nearly seven months, he perpetrated another murder in 2024, this time on a 55-year-old woman in Sector 54.

Living within a four-kilometre radius of the Maloya police station at Shahpur Colony (Sector 38 West), Kumar managed to evade arrest since 2010, despite having six cases registered against him in Chandigarh, including theft and culpable homicide.

Police repeatedly failed to place the accused at the crime scene with phone location details, as he had been using his employer’s phone, which he used to return to the employer after work. He was also aware of the CCTV cameras in the vicinity of the areas where he committed the crimes and thus remained undetected. However, in the 2024 case, police managed to track his whereabouts through IPDR (Internet Protocol Detail Record) data, as Kumar had a mobile phone with him at the time of the crime. The data revealed that he remained at the crime scene in the Sector 54 forest area throughout the night.