Tinsukia: Bikash Das, prime accused in the twin train murder cases, had raped and murdered a woman on board a train two months ago too. The case was allegedly hushed up with the Government Railway Police Force (GRPF) covering the body and disposing it of.

Highly placed sources said Bikash has revealed during interrogation that he and his two accomplices had raped and strangled a woman in a general coach of Dibrugarh-Silchar Express in May. The train, a weekly, was launched on April 8 this year.

"Bikash said they had left the body on the floor of a toilet in a semi-clad condition, which suggests that the case might have been covered up by the GRPF by registering it as an unnatural death case instead of rape and murder case," the source alleged.

"Had the case been dealt with seriously and taken to its logical conclusion, there were chances that the criminals would have been apprehended long before and these two victims would have been alive today," he said, adding, "The victim did not get justice and the world did not come to know about the crime."

Additional superintendent of Dibrugarh police, Surjeet Singh Panesar, said, "We have learnt that the accused also raped and murdered a woman in a train on May 14. Her body was found in the toilet of a general coach of Dibrugarh-Silchar Express at Banipur railway station. It was registered as an unnatural death case. We have begun investigations into the case."

Officer-in-charge of Dibrugarh GRPF outpost, Krishna Bahadur Chetry, told The Telegraph, "The body of a woman was found in the toilet of the rear SLR coach on May 14. An unnatural death case (32/18) was registered at Tinsukia GRPF police station. According to medical report, it was a natural death. The victim remained unidentified. No luggage was recovered."

Asked if the crime scene was photographed, Chetry said, "We did not click any photograph of the deceased inside the toilet and in the condition she was found dead. We have shortage of manpower. I was informed by the RPF about a body in a toilet of Dibrugarh-Silchar Express and it took me 20 minutes to reach Banipur station. By then my staff, four guards stationed at Banipur, had removed the body without taking any photographs."

A photograph The Telegraph has of the May murder victim, shows a woman in a red kurta and the lower half of her body covered with a blanket. Asked why were photographs of the body not taken in the state it was found, as it is crucial evidence, Chetry could not give a satisfactory answer but admitted that this is the standing operating procedure.

NF Railway general manager Sanjive Roy declined to comment, saying he was in a meeting.

The divisional railway manager of Tinsukia railway division, Ram Bahadur Rai, said he was not aware of the case but would look into it.