Dog helps track down UP rape-murder suspect in 20 minutes – lucknow

A four-year-old tracking dog has helped the Uttar Pradesh Police arrest a man suspected to be involved in the rape and murder of a child in Azamgarh district on Friday, according to officials.

Phantom, a Labrador, tracked the suspect down within 20 minutes of reaching the crime scene, making her way through a congested by-lane of Mubarakpur village.

After sniffing the room of the suspect, who lived around 250 metres from the crime scene, Phantom managed to locate the clothes that the he was believed to be wearing while committing the crime.

Azamgarh senior superintendent of police (SSP) Triveni Singh said the five-year-old girl’s body was found near a pond, barely 400 metres from her house, on Friday morning. He said the post-mortem confirmed that she had been smothered to death after being sexually assaulted.

“Phantom was roped in…and she did not disappoint us. After examining the crime scene briefly, she headed straight towards the rented room where the suspect had been staying for the past few months,” he said. “The suspect was found missing. So, we launch a manhunt and arrested him on Monday from his hideout,” he added.

Singh said the accused, Ram Parvesh Chauhan, 25, confessed to his crime during questioning. He said the accused narrated the sequence of events — how he abducted the Dalit girl while she was sleeping outside with her mother, and where he assaulted and killed the child.

Singh said the accused has been booked under charges of rape and murder, and SC/SCT Act.

Phantom has been trained at a dog school of the Border Security Force Training Centre, Gwalior, Singh said.

It is not for the first time that Phantom has tracked down a criminal. On March 27, the dog helped track a suspect in the killing of a teenage boy in this eastern UP district.