Latvian murder - evidence collection in final phase

The collection of evidence in the murder case of the Latvian national is in its final phase with the police confident of having made significant progress in the probe.

Both the accused, Umesh and Udayan of Panathura, were taken to the crime scene on multiple occasions during the last few days. While the investigating team managed to recover undergarments, which suspectedly belonged to the victim, they were yet to get hold of her footwear, which was also reported to be missing.

However, the police have claimed to have recovered other substances including traces of ganja, all of which have been sent for forensic tests.

According to Assistant Commissioner (Fort), J.K. Dinil, who is leading the probe, no leads that hinted at the role of any other persons to be involved in the crime have been detected. However, they were yet to conclude that there would not be any more culprits in the case.

The investigators believed that there were on a strong footing as far as the findings were concerned. Despite the chemical analysis undertaken on the internal organs of the deceased not being able to confirm rape, possibly due to the highly putrefied state of the body, the police maintained that the circumstantial evidence they have gathered so far were capable of strengthening the prosecution’s case during trial.

While those accused will be returned to judicial custody on May 18, the police could seek their custody at a later stage if the need arose, sources said. (EOM/SBG)