Kirti Vyas murder: high-tech drone looks for body

As the search for Grant Road resident Kirti Vyas’s body entered its fifth day on Thursday, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Thursday brought in a new drone with a high-tech camera to scan the mangroves adjoining Mahul creek for the body.

Vyas (28), an employee of Bblunt salon in Andheri, was allegedly murdered by her colleagues Siddesh Tamhankar and Khushi Sahjwani on March 16. They allegedly dumped her body in Mahul creek the same evening. Mr. Tamhankar and Ms. Sahjwani were arrested on May 5.

The police scanned the entire stretch of mangroves adjoining the creek with two drone cameras on Wednesday, after divers failed to find the body in the open area.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Dilip Sawant said a drone equipped with a 4k camera was pressed into service on Thursday. A 4k camera captures visuals in ultra high definition. “We are scanning the mangroves from the sides instead of from above, as was done on Wednesday. On Thursday, we recorded visuals of a 1.7-km stretch of the mangroves from both sides. These visuals will be played in slow motion and we will check for any sign of the body being stuck in the mangroves,” Mr. Sawant said. He said the 4k camera would continue to record visuals of the mangroves from all angles till the entire stretch had been covered.

Police sources said that even if the body had decomposed and the flesh had been consumed by marine life, there was still a high chance of finding at least a skeleton, which can be tested for DNA.

Mr. Tamhankar and Ms. Sahjwani allegedly intended to dump the body in Kalanagar creek, but couldn’t as the spot was crowded. “Hence, they had some difficulty in telling us the exact location,” a police officer said.