DIMAPUR, MAY 5 (MExN): Four murders have been reported in Dimapur this year but it appears that the Nagaland Police has made little or no progress in the investigations of the murders.
A thirteen-year old girl was found gruesomely murdered in Lengrijan, Dimapur, on February 18. The perpetrator(s) had disappeared without a trace after committing the crime leaving investigators perplexed and literally looking at a ‘blind case’. It was suspected that the victim had been raped. Rape was later confirmed after laboratory test results of the ‘swab samples’ gathered from the victim’s body returned from Kolkata.
The crime had prompted the district police to set up a Special Investigation Team, as well as a declaration of a reward of Rs. one lakh to anyone providing information leading to the arrest of the culprit(s). Despite, there has been no significant progress in investigation.
Sources say that the little progress that investigators made was detainment of two suspects, whose identities were not disclosed. The unidentified duo was detained about a month after investigation began. Investigators however could not connect the duo to the crime pending lack of evidence. They were later forwarded to court following the customary police remand.
Whether the investigators collected blood and semen samples from the duo for DNA testing could not be ascertained. DNA testing of the samples for comparison with the ‘swab samples’ collected from the victim’s body may hold the clue. However, DNA testing in India is easier said than done, police say. It is a tedious process, which would involve a lot of time and money, and not all laboratories are equipped enough to do it. Further, if at all any accused is connected to a crime through DNA evidence, the forensic expert who conducted the tests has to testify in court, in person, supporting the findings of the test, it was added.
While investigation into the murder was in progress, three more murders were reported in March, April and May respectively. Two of the victims in the three cases were women while the recent victim was a man. Police is yet to get any headway in the three cases.
