Kolkata man held for Kargil girl's death

KOLKATA: Cops from Kargil - with help from Kolkata Police - arrested a Kidderpore youth on Tuesday in connection with the death of a 18-year-old girl, whose frozen body was recovered from a river in the Zanskar area of Ladakh's Kargil district in the first week of Jan.

The girl went missing from her home in Ufti village on Nov 26, 2023, leading to protests and candle-light vigils in the Kargil area. Tuesday's was the second arrest in this case, the first being that of a local youth.

Ladakh police claimed that the girl victim was a victim of cybercrime who had transferred Rs 57,838 to Mominpore Road resident Farukh Khan in multiple transactions. The money was deposited at the Amtala branch in South 24 Parganas that was reportedly operated by Farukh. The details of the transactions were shared with Kolkata Police.

"The Ladakh Police had wanted a 10-day transit remand. We submitted in the court how there were multiple transactions between the victim and the accused before her death that needs further probe. The transit remand was granted," said public prosecutor Sourin Ghosal.

Kolkata police said they will be waiting for the probe results that link cyber criminals from Kolkata all the way to Kargil. "This is an entirely new phenomenon and we want to know about the exact links and monetary transactions," said an officer.

Sources in Ekbalpore police, that helped the Kargil cops in arresting Farukh, stated that he was involved "in cyber fraud leading to the victim to commit suicide".

"During the course of investigation, the investigating officer had obtained the phone number linked with the beneficiary account, KYC details, PAN card details and bank statements of the beneficiary that forms the biggest evidence against the accused Farukh," explained a police source.

After the went missing in November, police registered a missing case on the complaint of her father on Nov 29. The frozen body was recovered from the Lungnak River near Padum in the first week of Jan following information provided by some locals.