Police crack Ganderbal murder mystery within 48 hours

Ganderbal, Aug 19: Police in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district have solved the mysterious murder case of a 14-year-old girl whose body was recovered from Sehpora area on Sunday, with investigators identifying the victim’s elder sister as the prime accused. The case has been worked out within 48 hours of the crime.

Addressing a press conference here, SSP Ganderbal, Khalil Ahmad Poswal said, that on Sunday around 11 am they received an information that body of a teenage girl is lying in fields near Batsar Road, barely 1 kilometres from her residence in Sehpora. “We sent a police team from police station Kheerbawani there, and a girl’s dead body was found after which we registered a case with FIR no. 29/2025 under section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS ) in police station Kheer Bhawani.” DySP Headquarters and ASP Ganderbal rushed to the spot and later I also visited the spot as well .

The SSP said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was immediately constituted, and forensic experts from Srinagar were called to the crime scene for a detailed examination.

SSP said that given the sensitivity of the matter the crime scene was preserved and the body was taken to the hospital where the board of Doctors was constituted to carry medical examination of the victim including the autopsy. “Investigations revealed that the sisters had actually stepped out to look for their mother’s lost wristwatch when an argument broke out. The altercation escalated into a scuffle, during which the elder sister struck the younger one with a wooden rod. Forensic teams later confirmed that hair clutched in the victim’s hands matched that of the accused. Police also recovered blood-stained clothes from a cousin’s house, where the accused elder sister had changed after the incident” SSP flanked by ASP Ganderbal Parvaiz Ahmad and DySP Headquarters Owais Lone said. He said during questioning, the elder sibling confessed to hitting her sister with a rod after an argument, adding that the weapon of crime was also recovered which had blood stains and has been sent for the forensic examination.

SSP said that after the incident the elder sister was terrified and she ran away from the spot and she created a fake story, about kidnapping mostly due to fear. “I do not think there are any more arrested expected in this case. The story about men in the car was concocted. Nothing as such happened as per the investigations carried ,” the SSP told the media in a press conference.

Initially, investigators considered the possibility that the girl had been kidnapped and killed after both sisters had left their home. ”Upon further investigation, it was found that all said theories didn’t match, and after taking all CCTV footage into confidence, it was learned that her elder sister had changed her clothes in a relative’s home, on which blood stains were found which police recovered later,” SSP Poswal said. “It was also found that hairs of the elder sister were found in the hands of the deceased sister, after which the elder sister was interrogated. She tried to defend herself with false statements but later admitted that she has done this gruesome act.” “A case under relevant sections of law has been registered, and the accused has been arrested and presented before the Court “ .

Police have assured fair investigations into the case. Meanwhile, this shocking and unprecedented crime instance has left entire Kashmir valley stunned, community in shock.

Meanwhile, Ganderbal police said that some social media handlers have uploaded and circulated a fake image/photograph on various social media sites of an innocent girl, who is a reputed female journalist and wrongly projecting her as an Accused (Elder Sister of the Victim) in the recent Sephora, Ganderbal Murder Case. “It is clarified that the said photograph being circulated is baseless, fabricated and has no connection whatsoever with the incident. Such acts are not only misleading and defamatory but also amount to a serious criminal offence under the law. The circulation of fake, unverified, and malicious content on social media platforms causes unnecessary panic, damages the reputation of innocent individuals, and hinders the process of fair investigation” a police statement said. District Police Ganderbal appeals to the general public and social media users to refrain from spreading rumours, false information, or unverified content.