In a grim recurrence of crime, the body of a middle-aged woman was discovered stuffed inside a suitcase in a sugarcane field in Hapur's Pilakhua area on Monday. This marks the latest in a string of horrifying finds along a specific stretch of the Delhi-Lucknow National Highway-9, which has gained notoriety as a 'body dumping hotspot.'
A Pattern of Horror on NH-9
The gruesome discovery was made by a local farmer around 11 am on Monday. Hapur Superintendent of Police Kunwar Gyananjay Singh confirmed that the farmer spotted a black suitcase in his field, located less than a kilometre from the main highway. Upon investigation, the decomposed remains of the woman were found inside.
"Forensic teams have collected samples from the scene," stated SP Singh. He added that preliminary investigations suggest the woman was likely murdered elsewhere and her body dumped at the isolated spot several weeks ago. The area, devoid of CCTV surveillance and rarely frequented by people, offers the anonymity that criminals seek.
A Chilling Series of Crimes
This incident is not isolated. Over the past one-and-a-half years, nearly a dozen bodies, predominantly of women, have been recovered from this same stretch. The pattern is disturbingly consistent: victims are killed elsewhere, their remains packed in suitcases or sacks, and then discarded in the secluded areas along this highway corridor.
Recent cases highlight this macabre trend:
- November 2024: An unidentified woman in her early 30s was found in a red suitcase near a service lane. She was later identified as a victim from Gurgaon, murdered by her husband.
- June 2024: A woman's body was discovered in a sack in Babugarh. The victim was from Bulandshahr, and her husband was subsequently arrested.
- December 2023: The dismembered body of an unidentified woman was found in a sack. In the same month, another Ghaziabad woman, killed in a property dispute, was dumped by the highway.
Why Hapur Has Become a Disposal Ground
Law enforcement officials point to geography as a key factor. Hapur's location at the intersection of several major highways—including NH-9, the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, and the Delhi-Meerut Expressway—makes it a convenient and transient dumping ground for criminals operating across a wide region.
The NH-9 itself passes through 14 districts across five states: Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. This inter-state connectivity, while vital for transport, has inadvertently turned the area into a preferred site for disposing of bodies from crimes committed in places like Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Haryana.
SP Kunwar Gyananjay Singh assured that the police are actively investigating the latest case and are determined to work it out. However, the repeated incidents underscore a severe challenge for local authorities in policing this vast and secluded network of highways, which continues to attract those looking to hide their crimes.
