Raipur police have arrested a 29-year-old repeat offender for the rape and murder of a woman, alongside an assault on another woman in separate incidents under Mujgahan police station limits.
The arrested person has been identified as Devendra Kumar Sahu, alias Rakesh, alias Manchhala, a resident of Sejbahar Amhapara in Mujgahan, Raipur.
Addressing the press, senior officials confirmed that over eight joint teams from the Anti-Crime and Cyber Unit (ACCU) and Mujgahan police executed the operation under the supervision of Raipur Police Commissioner Dr Sanjeev Shukla and Additional Police Commissioner Amit Tukaram Kamble, with continuous monitoring by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime & Cyber) Smritik Rajnala and Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Zone) Robinson Gudiya.
The body of a missing woman was recovered on 21 July 2026 from a waterlogged vacant plot near New Swagat Vihar in Mujgahan. Following inspection by forensic and dog squad teams, injury marks were found on her face and body. The victim was identified as a resident of Boriakalan. Post-mortem reports confirmed death due to asphyxiation caused by drowning. Police subsequently registered a case under Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
In a second incident on 5 August 2026, a female resident of Sejbahar reported that an unidentified man stalked her on a bicycle, hurled profanities, pushed her into a drain, and physically assaulted her. The assailant fled after she raised an alarm. Police registered a case under BNS Sections 115(2), 296, and 351(2).
Police scanned footage from hundreds of CCTV cameras along key transit routes, analyzed the modus operandi, and monitored recently released convicts. Activating local informers and technical intelligence, officers pinpointed Devendra Kumar Sahu.
During interrogation, Sahu confessed to both crimes. Investigators revealed that Sahu routinely targeted isolated women while riding a bicycle. On the day of the murder, he trailed the victim, dragged her into a secluded spot, sexually assaulted her, and suffocated her by forcing her face underwater. He then fled with her mobile phone.
Police recovered the victim’s mobile phone, the bicycle used during the commission of the crime, and the clothes worn by the accused at the time of the incident.
Police records show Sahu is a habitual offender previously convicted to 10 years’ imprisonment in a 2017 rape case under Mujgahan police station, alongside another assault case registered at Tikrapara police station in 2025.
