Two women were found dead in train toilets in Assam in separate incidents within a span of 36 hours. Both the trains were plying on the same railway route and a towel was wrapped around the necks of both the bodies. The similarities in the two cases have led the police to suspect that the same person killed both women.

The police have registered rape cases in connection with the incidents, the Hindustan Times reported. “Two separate cases have been registered in railway police stations in Simaluguri and Mariani under sections 302 [murder] and 376 [rape] of the Indian Penal Code,” Special Director of Police (Railways) R Chandranathan said. Investigators are awaiting autopsy reports to confirm rape.

The police have also arrested a man from Tinsukia city in Upper Assam in connection with the murders.

On Wednesday, Lalima Devi, a resident of the state’s Dibrugarh district, was found dead in the Avadh Assam Express. Officials discovered her body at the Mariani station in Jorhat district around 2.20 pm, The Indian Express reported.

The previous day, Radha Kumari from Sivasagar district was found dead in the New Tinsukia-Rangiya Express. Her body was discovered around 9.15 am at Simaluguri station. The police have released a sketch of the man suspected to be the killer, ANI reported.

“We are trying to establish whether there is any connection between the two cases,” Additional Director General of Police RP Meena said. The police have sent the two bodies for a postmortem examination.

General Manager of Northeast Frontier Railway Sanjive Roy said it was not clear how the murders happened and that the department is co-operating with the police. “It could be a lunatic on the loose,” he said. The Zonal Railway has asked women to not board SLR, or seating-cum-luggage-rake, coaches.