How IT helped cops solve a murder case that had hit a dead end

NAVI MUMBAI: Almost two months after a 49-year-old woman was found dead amidst the bushes at a desolate stretch near Valap village in Panvel, the crime unit II of Navi Mumbai police last week succeeded in arresting the accused, identified as Sharad Ghanshyam Sahu, 45, from Rewa in Madhya Pradesh. Information technology played a crucial role in identifying and hunting down the accused in the neighbouring state.

When the case was taken over by crime unit II in October, they found out that as the incident happened at an isolated area in the evening, there were no CCTVs or eyewitnesses. So, they decided to use advanced technology means of investigation to locate clues.

“The place where the body was found was a remote spot with not even a proper pathway. Detection was done using technical analysis of the data procured through an internet search engine, which took some time. We were in receipt of dump data of over 1,000 odd people and their online activities, and using logical analysis, the list was weeded out and eventually we zeroed in on the suspect,” said deputy commissioner of police, crime, Amit Kale.

The deceased, identified as Sangeeta Rajendra Agwane, 49, was found unresponsive by her son and complainant, Sandesh Rajendra Agwane, 32, on October 7. He had last spoken with his mother at 6:55pm and had asked her to get some curd on her way. When she failed to reach home, the worried son and the family went searching for her. A local shopkeeper told them that he saw her taking the ‘kutcha’ road to their house after buying curd. Eventually, the family found her lying unconscious amidst the bushes on the path.

Police were alerted around 11:30pm. The doctor of Sub-District Hospital in Panvel declared the women dead on arrival on October 8, at 3:15 am.

Police initially registered an accidental death report (ADR) but later registered a case under sections 103 (murder) and 311 (robbery) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) after postmortem revealed the cause of death as strangulation. And, then began the hunt for the murderer which led the crime branch to getting help from IT tools and tracking down the accused.

During interrogation, more details emerged of the murder motive. The accused, originally from Assam, was working as a welder in Panvel and nurtured a deep liking for the deceased woman.

He knew that the deceased took private tuition classes for standard 1-12 students in two batches - 8am-10am and 4pm-7pm. “On the day she was murdered, she had finished the class at 7pm and was walking towards her home, when Sahu began stalking her. He was aware of her routine and followed her through the kutcha road that led to her home. He has confessed to trying to get physical with her, which she resisted. Agitated with her rejection, he strangled her with his ‘gamcha’ (towel),” said ACP Landge.

Following her death, the accused took off with her jewellery, purse and mobile phone – a mistake that would prove to be costly for him. It was the phone that ultimately played a crucial role in his detection. “A month following the incident, we received data that stated that the phone of the victim was still in use. The phone location was traced to Madhya Pradesh and a team was sent there. The phone was found to be in possession of the brother-in-law of the accused,” said senior police inspector, crime unit (II), Umesh Gawli.

The accused was arrested on Saturday and was produced in court which remanded him in police custody. “Investigation is underway to locate the other robbed items,” Gawli said.