Man, woman found with heads & faces crushed with stones in Uttarakhand's Haldwani godown

NAINITAL: In a gruesome double murder in Haldwani's Naveen Mandi area, bodies of a 25-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were found with their heads and faces crushed with large stones at a godown at Galla Mandi on Bareilly Road on Thursday morning.Severe injuries to their heads and faces initially made visual identification difficult. Police recovered identity cards from the place. The deceased were identified as Shubham Tamta (25), a resident of Almora who worked as a supervisor at a rehabilitation centre in Haldwani, and Laxmi (19), a second-year student from Khansyu under Mukteshwar police station. She lived in rented accommodation in Haldwani. According to preliminary information, the two had attended a party on Wednesday night. Senior police officials, including the city superintendent of police, rushed to the spot to monitor the probe. Nainital SSP Manjunath TC said a forensic team was deployed to collect evidence. CCTV footage from cameras installed in and around the mandi premises, including the godown where the bodies were found, is being examined."We identified several suspects based on technical surveillance and CCTV analysis. They are being questioned," SSP Manjunath said, adding the crime scene was immediately sealed, evidence was marked and a dog squad was pressed into service.The bodies were sent for post-mortem examination.Based on a complaint lodged by the deceased woman's relative, Suresh Chandra Pokharia, an FIR was registered at Kotwali Haldwani under Section 103(1) of the BNS. Four accused were arrested later in the evening. They were identified as Gaurav Negi (25) of Vasundhara Colony; Saurabh Bhatt (20) of Teenpani Khanna Farm; Deepu Sharma (20) of Vasundhara Colony; and Deepesh Latwal (25) of Uttaranchal Vihar, all residents of Haldwani.