Bareilly (UP), February 12 Two men, including a well-known local practitioner known as "Dr Bangali," have been arrested for allegedly murdering a teenage girl last year and for the killing of a woman in 2017, police said on Thursday.
The accused, Salim Hussain (22) and Asim alias Amit alias "Dr Bangali" (27), were arrested near Bhaua Bazaar while planning to flee to West Bengal.
SP Mukesh Kumar Mishra said that the joint teams from the surveillance unit, cyber cell, and Special Operations Group (SOG) cracked the case using technical evidence.
According to the police, the investigation began after the disappearance of a 16-year-old girl from Satwan Patti village. Her father, Aziz Ahmad, had filed a missing person's complaint on January 8, 2025. In September 2025, a strand of hair, clothes, and skeletal remains were recovered from a sugarcane field near the Kailash river. DNA testing subsequently confirmed that the remains were those of the missing girl.
Analysis of mobile call detail records pointed to suspicious activity by Salim, a resident of the same village. Police found that he had spoken to the girl multiple times, and his location matched the site of the crime on the night she disappeared.
During questioning, Salim confessed to luring the girl to the field, strangling her, and dumping the body. He also admitted that he threw her mobile phone into the river.
Following his confession, police sought court permission for a polygraph test. Salim fled after receiving the legal notice and took shelter at a clinic in Bhaua Bazaar run by Asim. The two were waiting for money to escape to Kolkata when they were apprehended, the police said.
During the investigation, Asim also confessed to a second crime. He admitted to hatching a conspiracy with Salim to murder his wife, Rajni (26), in 2017 after a domestic dispute. The two allegedly strangled her near the Kailash river and buried the body. A separate case has been registered at Bhuta police station regarding this incident.
Salim has a prior criminal record, with cases of robbery, attempt to murder, and violation of the Arms Act registered against him. Asim, originally from Kolkata, has previously been booked in cases related to kidnapping and the POCSO Act.
Investigation into Asim's background and activities in West Bengal is ongoing, the police added.