Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur have arrested a young man for allegedly breaking into homes at night and hitting sleeping women on the head. In five such incidents spread over four months, one woman died and four others were injured. The accused, Ajay Nishad, now faces multiple cases, including that of murder.

Police have said Ajay Nishad faces a 2022 child abuse case and was in jail for six months. Out on bail, he lived in Surat for sometime before returning to Gorakhpur. His first night attack was on a July 30, when he entered a house, hit a woman on the head and fled with some jewellery.

According to police, this incident set the modus operandi for the ones that were to follow. “He started with a robbery. He attacked a woman and hit her on the head. He then adopted this as a modus operandi,” senior police officer Dr Gaurav Grover told the media.

The next incident, police said, took place on August 12. This time, the blow was more severe and the victim died of the injuries. This was followed by three more incidents, dated August 26, November 10 and November 14, police said.

Dr Grover said police have established Ajay Nishad’s involvement in the crime on the basis of CCTV footage of the localities he struck in. “He has described the chain of events during questioning. We have also corroborated the statements by the complainants in all the cases to conclude that all these crimes were committed by him,” he said.

Police said some of the complainants had spotted Ajay Nishad before he escaped. “They had described him as a young man who always wore black clothes and remained barefoot. We questioned people on and identified suspects based on these inputs,” he said.

Police have recovered several blunt objects, including an iron rod and a bed leg, suspected to have been used in the attacks. Police have said they would put the matter before a fast-track court and ensure strict punishment for Ajay Nishad.

Inputs by Abrar Ahamad