Chandini Jain (Source: Express photo)
Cops are questioning a former schoolmate of the 17-year-old girl, whose decomposed body was found Tuesday morning in Ameenpur hillocks on the outskirts of Hyderabad, in connection with her death. Cops detained him based on CCTV footage which showed him and Chandini Jain walking towards the hillocks Saturday evening.
Chandini was reported missing on Saturday night, and today morning her body was found amidst boulders in the desolated Ameenpur hillocks. Daughter of businessman, Kishore Jain, Chandini, a second year Intermediate student at a private school cum junior college, had left home Saturday evening saying she was going to meet friends. However, when she did not return till 8:30 pm, and her mobile phone was switched off, her parents lodged a missing complaint late Saturday night.
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Earlier in the day, police said that construction workers spotted the body amidst boulders. After initial reports of the post-mortem, police converted the case from suspicious death to murder. CCTV footage showed Chandini and a boy getting into an autorickshaw near her home and getting down at Ameenpur and walking towards the hillocks. Three other youths who are friends of the youth seen in CCTV alongside Chandini have also been detained for questioning. While Chandini is 12th grader or in second year Intermediate, all the four youths who are being questioned had passed out last year.
“The body is in a decomposed state so we are assuming she died Saturday night itself. There are no visible external injuries but some clues point to murder. Post mortem will reveal cause of death, the report is awaited,” said Inspector Ram Reddy of Ameenpur police station. “The area where the body was found is almost inaccessible, amidst huge boulders and desolated. A motorcycle or car can come up to a certain point but not up to the boulders. We don’t think she would have gone there all by herself that too late in the evening. We ruled out the possibility of she becoming a victim of blue whale challenge. It appears to be murder,” Inspector Ram Reddy said.
Parents of the girl informed police while lodging FIR that she had become very moody and spent hours chatting on phone. Daughter of Kishore Jain, a cloth businessman, Chandini had left her house in Madinaguda at 5:30 pm telling her sister that she was going out with her friends. When her mother called at 6:30, her mobile was switched off but when she did not return till 8:30 pm they panicked and started a frantic search. The friends with whom she was supposed to go out informed that she did not meet them. The family lodged police complaint late in the night.
