An Indian Army officer posted in Assam has been arrested for the murder of a woman from Chennai. Lieutenant Colonel Amrinder Singh Walia, who is posted as the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of IV Corps headquarters in Tezpur in Assam, was arrested by Assam Police on Friday, 10 days after the body of the victim was recovered near Guwahati. The police have said that the army official has confessed to the crime.
The victim has been identified as 36-year-old Vandanashree, a native of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Reportedly Lieutenant Colonel Amrinder Singh Walia was having an affair with her for a long time.
The matter came to light after Assam police recovered the body of an unidentified woman wrapped in plastic sheets near the National Highway 31 in Changsari in the Kamrup district, located just north to Guwahati city, on 15 February. While the woman was determined to be aged around 35 years, her identity was unknown, and Kamrup Police had posted her photographs on social media seeking help from the public in identifying her.
যোৱা ১৫.০২.২৩ তাৰিখে চাংসাৰিত ৰাষ্ট্ৰীয় ঘাইপথৰ পথৰ কাষত প্ৰায় ৩৫ বছৰীয়া এগৰাকী মহিলাৰ মৃতদেহ উদ্ধাৰ হয়। জিএমচিএইচ ত পি.এম. কৰাৰ অন্তত, মৃতদেহ চিনাক্তকৰণৰ বাবে বৰ্তমান মৰ্গত সংৰক্ষণ কৰা হৈছে। যদি কাৰোবাৰ হাতত কিবা তথ্য আছে, তেন্তে কামৰূপ আৰক্ষীক যোগাযোগ কৰে যেন। @assampolice pic.twitter.com/XB7DRgZWBY
— Kamrup Police (@KamrupPolice) February 16, 2023
She was wearing a pendant depicting Linga Bhairavi, indicating that she was from South India. After a thorough investigation, she was identified as Vandanashree from Chennai, and link of the army officer in the crime also emerged. After that, Changsari police arrested Lieutenant Colonel Amrinder Singh Walia from Punjab with the help of Tezpur police from the IV Corps headquarters in Tezpur.
According to the police, there is enough evidence proving that Walia killed the woman and dumped her body in Changsari, and he has confessed to the crime. He knew her for a long time and were in a relationship, said Hitesh Chandra Roy, Superintendent of Police of Kamrup district.
Sonitpur additional SP Madhurima Das, said, “A case against Lt Col Walia was registered with the Changsari Police in this regard. A team of Tezpur Police, in collaboration with a team of Changsari Police, picked him up on Friday night.”
Lt Col Walia has been booked under sections 365/302/201/34 of the IPC, and he was produced before a court on Sunday.
The women had travelled from Chennai to Varanasi recently, from where she had gone to Delhi. On 14 February, she boarded a Guwahati bound train in Delhi to meet Walia, and reached the next day. He went to Guwahati to pick up her from Guwahati Railway station at Paltan Bazaar, and they were travelling to Tezpur, which is around 170 kms from Guwahati.
But presumably, after crossing the Saraighat bridge over the Brahmaputra, he killed her and dumped the body near the highway at Changsari. The body was found in the next morning.
The victim’s four-year-old daughter was also rescued from Howrah in West Bengal. According to the police, Walia had kept her with him till February 21. However, it is not clear how she reached Howrah alone.
“The girl has been recovered by Howrah Police and has been sent to our custody. The other family members are also here,” the police officer said.
Defence sources have said that it is a civilian crime and therefore the officer will be tried under civil courts, not by a court marshal. “As per Section 70 in the Army Act, 1950, the case doesn’t come under our jurisdiction. A person subject to this Act who commits an offence of murder against a person not subject to military, naval or air force law, or of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against such a person or of rape in relation to such a person, shall not be deemed to be guilty of an offence against this Act and shall not be tried by a court-martial,” the source said.
