SHILLONG, July 11: East Jaintia Hills Police made a breakthrough in the Umpleng quadruple murder case with the arrest of an accused on Thursday.
East Jaintia Hills Superintendent of Police, Giri Prasad M announced the arrest but refused to disclose the details of the arrested person “in the interest of investigation”.
“Investigation is ongoing to trace and to arrest the other person(s) involved in the case,” Prasad said.
Meanwhile, Director General of Police, Idashisha Nongrang on Thursday said that the preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the four victims are suspected to be drugs users and small-time peddlers.
She also informed that the fourth deceased has been identified as Loba Tamang and the authorities are trying to identify his relatives.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been set up to investigate the case and the Meghalaya Police HQ is also monitoring the investigation, she said.
Three of the deceased were earlier identified as Ravi Rai (23) from Ilam district of Nepal; Nasar Kyndait (33) of Dkhiah East, Pohshnong in East Jaintia Hills, and Rajesh Rai (26) of Koshi Anchal, Nepal. Their bodies were handed over to their relatives after post-mortem examination.
Residents of Umpleng village in East Jaintia Hills had discovered the four mutilated bodies lying with their hands tied with rope and multiple cut injuries on their bodies, likely caused by sharp objects, on the morning of July 6.
