Ramban, Mar 12: Ramban Police on Thursday said it solved a case pertaining to a murder of a woman in Gool area of the district, and arrested the accused from Telangana with the help of technical and digital evidences.
The officials said that on 03.03.2026 at about 1815 hrs a missing report was lodged by Shah Nawaz (Brother of the victim) at Gool Police Station regarding the Missing of Zahida Bano, D/o Mohd Yaqoob Khan, R/o Paratmula Gool. Acting promptly on the report, a search team led by PSI Sunil Raskotra was constituted to trace out the missing girl.
Meanwhile at about 1900 hours, PSI Sunil Raskotra received information that a dead body of an unknown girl was lying at Manzimkunda forest area located at a distance of 1.5 km approximately from the Gool town. On receiving this information police team rushed to the spot and discovered the dead body of a girl in a dhok with her throat slit and without bottom apparel garments. The family members (Shah Nawaz Brother and Mohd Shafi Cousin) of the missing girl were informed and called to the spot, who identified the deceased as Zahida Bano.
The officials said that subsequently on the basis of a written report sent from the spot by PSI Sunil Raskotra a case FIR No. 11/2026 under Sections 64/103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered at Police Station and investigation started. Thereafter, the SDPO/SHO and other police officers including SSP Ramban reached the spot. The district forensic mobile unit (DFMU) also reached at the SOC from Ramban, along with the crime photographer. A team of doctors was also requisitioned from SDH Gool to the SOC for the appreciation and collection of biological evidences. The area was illuminated for SOC inspection and lifting of evidences from the scene by DFMU and the IO.
The evidences so lifted from SOC were photographed, marked, lifted, packaged and preserved as per SOP.
The dead body was subsequently sent for post-mortem examination to District Hospital Ramban through board of doctors. The scene of crime and the peripheral area was secured by placing guard for further examination the next day, officials said.
Meanwhile keeping in view the gruesome and cold-blooded murder that aroused significant public traction and anxiety a Special Investigation Team headed by SDPO Gool was constituted to investigate the case and apprehend the accused at the earliest.
On 04.03.2026, the post-mortem examination of the deceased got conducted through board of doctors at DH Ramban and also the search of the scene of crime and its surrounding area was conducted leading to recovery of a blood stained knife which was concealed beneath the stones at some distance from the SOC by the accused. The weapon of offence was carefully packaged and preserved by the DFMU and was seized on spot by the investigation team in the presence of EMIC Gool and independent witnesses. All the seized exhibits were sealed and later got resealed by the EMIC Gool and subsequently were forwarded to FSL Jammu and Srinagar for forensic examination and report.
During the investigation, Call Detail Records (CDR) and dump data were obtained from Telecom service providers and analyzed. The analysis revealed that the deceased had been in contact with a person identified as Mohd Ashraf, S/o Abdul Ghani, R/o Saar Tehsil Mahore Distt. Reasi who was found to be absconding at that time. Further tracking of the accused through digital surveillance of his footprints indicated his movement trail from the scene of crime to Jammu and further to outside the UT. Significantly the absconding accused took every precautionary measure to dodge the SIT members but following the principle of scientific investigation and professional policing the accused was located at Sangareddy district of Telangana state.
Accordingly, a team of SIT members was dispatched to Telangana in pursuit of the accused. The team after holding coordination meeting followed by efficient planning and special assistance from ACP Ramachandrapuram Telangana Police succeeded in arresting the accused Mohammad Ashraf on 07-03-2026 night and after obtaining the transit remand from the duty magistrate he was brought back to Gool on 8-3-2026 for further investigation.
During the sustained interrogation, the accused admitted the commission of crime. Preliminary investigation also revealed that the accused, who is already married and has two children, was in a relationship with the deceased girl since last many years and has developed obsession for her that had prompted him to approach victim’s family to marry her despite being already a married man with two children. However, during the past sometime he had started suspecting the victim behavior, conduct and intentions on the pretext of her being unfaithful and disinterested in their relationship. The situation led to distrust and the accused decided to punish her for it.
After carefully planning for the gruesome act he purchased the knife from Jammu and reached Gool on 1-3-2026 evening. Next day i.e. on 2-3-2026 he did the recce of the place before the commission of crime and finally called the deceased to the said location at Manzimkunda in Gool, where he again confronted the deceased with the allegations of being unfaithful that led to the outbreak of argument between them. During the altercation, the accused sexually assaulted the victim and subsequently killed her by overpowering and slitting her throat with the knife that he had kept hidden in his another trouser found on the SOC.
After committing the crime the accused reached Jammu bus stand the same night and boarded bus for New Delhi. He reached Delhi in the morning on 3-3-2026 and after brief halt enroute he finally reached to Sangareddy district in Telangana on 5th from where he was arrested on 7th March.
The mobile phone of the deceased was also recovered on the disclosure of the accused from the indicated place in the presence of the EMIC and independent witnesses, which was seized and sealed on the spot by SIT members for sending it to FSL for analysis.
The interrogation of the accused is still going on and the SIT members are in the process of expediting the investigation on fast track so that the Chargesheet against the accused is filed in the competent court at the earliest, officials added.
