A 23-year-old youth from Myanmar was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly killing a woman in south Mizoram’s Lunglei town, a police officer said.
The accused has been identified as Lalchawimawia, a resident of Tahan in Myanmar, according to Lunglei Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Albert Lalnunpuia, who headed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by Lunglei police.
He said the SIT launched a manhunt for the accused after he allegedly stabbed K. Vanlalduati (52), a resident of Lunglei’s Chanmari neighbourhood, to death.
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According to the police officer, the heinous incident occurred around 6:30 pm on Monday when the victim was alone at her maxicab counter at Chanmari-II, a crowded place in Lunglei town.
In an apparent attempt to rob the victim, Lalchawimawia entered the maxicab counter and allegedly attacked her with a knife, which has a letter ‘R’ inscribed on it, he said.
The victim died on the spot and was found lying on the floor with stab wounds, he said.
The accused then escaped from the crime scene soon after some locals arrived at the spot, he said.
Lalnunpuia said that the investigation team had on Tuesday recovered the sheath of the knife a few metres from the crime scene.
Later, the police sought information on the crime by posting a photo of the knife on social media platforms, he said.
Acting on a tip-off, the SIT raided Lunglei’s Luangmual locality on Wednesday and arrested the accused from his hiding place.
During questioning, Lalchawimawia claimed that he belonged to Tahan F group in Myanmar and has been living at Thangte village in Lunglei district as a labourer, the police officer said.
The accused also used to visit Lunglei town occasionally, the official informed.
However, the accused refused to confess to his crime, he said.
“Even though he (Lalchawimawia) refused to confess, police have enough evidence to prove his crime,” Lalnunpuia said, adding further investigation is on.
He said that the accused was produced before a court on Wednesday and was sent to jail.