Uttarakhand reeled in horror on Saturday as a stranded female tourist and her daughter were raped and murdered in Gaurikund area of Kedarnath valley, Hindustan Times reported.
Another stranded woman, from Bihar, too was reportedly raped in the same area.
The report further states that criminals murdered three brothers — all mule traders — in the same area and looted Rs170,000 from them.
Unidentified people raped and murdered the woman and her daughter at a village named Ghondhlu Pani in the Himalayan state.
The mule traders were murdered in a forest near Chauwasi village of Gaurikund.
The locals said they had informed the police about the crimes.
A police official at the Rudrprayag, a holy site, admitted of receiving such complaints. The official, seeking anonymity, said no first information report (FIR) had been registered till filing of the report at 6:00pm BST.
Asked about the crimes, Uttarakhand Director General of Police Satyavrat Bansal said: “I am not denying that anti-social elements taking undue advantage of the situation. There might have been isolated incidents, but not a spree.”
Bansal added: “I have directed Rudraprayag SP (superintendent of police) to keep the local law enforcement agency members vigilant and all efforts must be made to check criminal activities there, if any.”
Locals in the flood-affected areas suspect that bands of roving criminals are preying on the stranded people and even stealing from the dead — chopping off fingers to steal jewellery.
Police have arrested a person and recovered cash and other articles he reportedly took off bodies lying in the area.
