Bokaro: Eight months after an FIR was lodged in a missing 18-year-old girl’s case, Bokaro police on Saturday claimed to have solved the crime by arresting a 26-year-old man for allegedly murdering her and recovering her body parts from a jungle. The accused was identified as Dinesh Kumar Mahto.Bokaro SP, Harvinder Singh, said that five officers, including the officer in-charge, and a clerk of Pindrajoda police station were suspended for dereliction of duty.Investigation revealed that deceased Pushpa Mahto was in contact with the accused for nearly three years. During questioning, he confessed to killing her on July 21 last year near Chas college after being pressured for marriage. He later led police to the site in a jungle where skeletal remains, clothes, hair and the murder weapon were recovered. Singh said that Mahto had friendship with many girls. But as Pushpa pressured him for marriage, he planned and murdered her. Police have recovered 4 mobile phones and 23 SIM cards.On July 24, 2025, Rekha Devi reported that her daughter, Pushpa, had gone missing from Khuntadih village. An FIR was registered on Aug 4 under provisions of BNS against unknown persons. Dissatisfied with the pace of probe, Rekha moved Jharkhand high court, which pulled up Bokaro police for its slow response. The court’s observations led to the suspension of Pindrajoda police station OC Abhishek Ranjan. A one-man commission was set up, with DIG-rank officer Sandhya Rani Mehta deputed to Bokaro to ensure a fair inquiry. Subsequently, a special investigation team (SIT), led by DSP (city), Alok Ranjan, cracked the case using technical and human intelligence.Singh said that besides the OC, investigating officer Aniket Kumar, sub-inspectors Vivek Pandey and Anil Yadav, and clerk Akshay Kumar, were suspended.