One moved to Sonipat for a packaging job after relatives told her about the work. The other left her husband and returned to her parents’ home before moving away to seek employment.

In their villages in Uttar Pradesh, the news has left residents wondering how two young women could have allegedly become associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

“Since morning, Babita has been the only topic of discussion in the village. We are astonished that someone so young could become involved with people accused of criminal activities. She had left home simply to find work in Sonipat,” said Atul Rai, the village head of Kothiyar, around 25 km from Azamgarh district headquarters.

Rai said a police team visited the village on Wednesday morning and recorded statements of Babita’s family members, including her father, Ram Jatan, a farmer. Babita had no known criminal record before her name surfaced in the case, he added.

An accused at Railway Colony Police Station in Kota, Tuesday.…