Khar Horror: 3 days after murder, accused still give conflicting statements

The accused Shree Jogdhankar and Diya Padalkar (top)

The Khar police, investigating the murder of the 19-year-old psychology student, have taken her nail clippings, of the two arrested accused and of those at the New Year's Eve party. The nail clippings will be used to identify DNA traces at the crime scene and determine if others from the party were present on the second-floor staircase of Bhagwanti Heights where the alleged murder took place. With statements of witnesses and accused still conflicting, the probe would rely heavily on forensic evidence.

Sources from Khar police said a crime scene reconstruction will be done this week. "The crime scene will be recreated soon with the help of forensic experts after getting some more clarity. As of now, the case is at a very premature stage and the guests present at the party continue to give contradictory statements," an officer said.

Attendees from the party visit Khar police station on Saturday. Initial statements of nine attendees have been recorded by the police. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Three days after the victim was found partially clothed in a pool of blood, investigators continue to scratch their heads about the sequence of events on December 31, 2020. The accused and attendees from the party continue to give conflicting statements, saying they do not recall anything since they were drunk. The police have so far determined the presence of 12 people at the party, including the deceased and the accused duo - Diya Padalkar and Shree Jogdhankar.

Khar police are banking heavily on forensic evidence to make a watertight case.

Accused Shree Jogdhankar being brought out from Bandra court on Saturday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

"Prima facie, it appears that the victim struggled a lot to defend herself from the killer(s). The nail clippings of all the guests and accused will help us extract the DNA traces to find out if anyone else apart from the trio was also present on the second floor where the incident took place, and when she was later dragged till the ground floor," an officer from Khar police said.

The forensic team has also taken hair samples, another important source of DNA traces, from the crime scene. "Whatever was found at the crime scene has been sent for forensic analysis. The team from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) has also taken footprint samples," the officer added.

Bhagwanti Heights in Khar where the incident took place. Pic/Anurag Ahire

What is clear so far

So far, the police have understood the chain of events from 7.30 pm to 2 am with the help of CCTV footage and some statements. It has been confirmed that the victim, disturbed after seeing Jogdhankar and Padalkar getting intimate, was speaking on the phone near the stairs. It has also been determined that the party was planned well in advance and everyone had contributed Rs 1,200.

"There is no clarity about what happened between 2 am and 3 am during which she died as there are no CCTV cameras on the staircase. So far, we haven't been able to determine the presence of anyone else on the second floor in that time frame. Also, we find it hard to believe that nobody heard anything as there must have been screams or some sound from both the victim and the accused during the scuffle," an officer said.