Vaiga murder: Hotel staff identify Sanu, police to strengthen case

KOCHI: The police, striving to find how Sanu Mohan made his 11-year-old daughter Vaiga unconscious before dumping her into the Muttar River, received crucial evidence on Friday to piece together the puzzle.
The employees of a hotel at Thuravoor, from where Sanu purchased Al Faham (Arabic grilled chicken) and a bottle of Coca-Cola, identified Sanu when the police took him there on Friday as part of evidence collection. Though Sanu had denied giving alcohol to Vaiga, the police could confirm that Sanu purchased a soft drink to mix it with alcohol.

“Hotel employees have identified Sanu Mohan. They could even recall the items he had purchased. They confirmed that Sanu purchased a soft drink along with ‘Alfam’. Since he denied giving alcohol to Vaiga, the confirmation from the hotel employees will help us strengthen our findings on how he initiated the crime,” said a police officer who is part of the investigation team. The police team — which took Sanu to Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka — had also found a jacket that he abandoned at a hotel in Kollur. The hotel employees too identified him.

Meanwhile, the police completed the evidence collection on Friday, said the officer. “There are some contradictions in Sanu’s statement. We have two days left to interrogate him further. We will cross-check all the statements before producing Sanu before the court. We are also awaiting a forensic report on the car. The final remand report will be prepared based on that,” the officer said.

It is also learnt the Mumbai police will also submit a custody application before the First Class Judicial Magistrate, Thrikkakara, in connection with the Rs 3 crore cheating case registered against Sanu in Pune in 2016.