No evidence of murder in Mishel case: Kochi police

KOCHI: Ernakulam Crime Branch DySP Emmanuel Paul, the investigating officer in the Mishel case, said the investigation is in progress and the Police are yet to gather more details. "In the investigation that we have conducted so far, we have not received any evidence which states that it was a well-planned murder as the family members allege. However, we are yet to reach any definite conclusion," said Emmanuel.

After seeking the opinion of many forensic experts, the family members are convinced there was evidence of an assault on her body. "It took them a week after the post-mortem to give us a copy of the Inquest Report. The contents clearly revealed that facts were being hidden. We have inquired from many forensic experts regarding the marks on her body and they have agreed that those marks are a result of grabbing by force," said Shaji Varghese.

The Police contend that the apprehensions raised by the family are baseless. "Doubts were raised by the family regarding the marks found on Mishel's body. However, those are not fingerprints. We have clarified with the forensic expert who conducted the post mortem and she has refuted that any signs of assault were visible on the body," said Emmanuel.The investigation is on for tracing the bikers who followed Mishel from Kaloor Church, as seen in the CCTV footage. "As per the request of the family members, we are trying to trace the bike. However, in the CCTV footage, we have not seen them following Mishel when she went to the church," Emmanuel added.

Earlier, the police had arrested Cronin, who was working in Chattisgarh, on charges of abetting suicide days after Mishel's death. "We have Michel's phone records, which prove that Cronin contacted Mishel and that she was distressed the day she went missing. However we are yet to make conclusions in the case," he said.