Police questioned boyfriend for 10 mins and let him walk away

Ten days after a 28yearold woman went missing from Santacruz her decomposed body was found in Palghar on Thursday After making rounds of the police station Carol Pinky Misquittarsquos mother was able to file a complaint 48 hours later While she alleged the involvement of Carolrsquos boyfriend the Mumbai police had let him go after questioning him briefly Now the Palghar cops have arrested the boyfriendPinky who was more popular among friends and family as Carol went missing on January 24 The Santa Cruz police accepted her widowed mother Catherinersquos complaint only on January 26 the day the city cops launched the Nirbhaya helpline The local cops attributed the delay to work for the helpline inaugurationZico Misquitta who apparently left behind the knife in Carolrsquos bodySources in Palghar police said the alleged killer Zico Misquitta 27 had left the knife in Pinkyrsquos body after stabbing her in the chest The weapon was recovered during postmortem at JJ hospitalSources said Carol had reached Palghar with Zico in her Scooty on January 24 night ldquoTheir relationship was turning sourhellipthe couple had a verbal fight near Manor on MumbaiAhmedabad highwayrdquo said an officer in Palghar policeThe letter found in Carolrsquos room after she went missing PicsHanif PatelldquoDuring a heated argument Zico caught Carol by her neck and strangulated her After strangulating Carol he stabbed her Zicorsquos father runs a catering business in Vile Parle So he had picked up a knife with him before accompanying Carol in her Scootyrdquo said the officerldquoAfter learning that Carol was dead Zico called his friend Kumar Babu Devendran and the duo disposed of her body in Waghoba ghat in the wee hours of January 25rdquo said the sourceVirarresident Devendran 30 is a catering contractor who helps Zicorsquos father in his business to run Phiona Caterers said the policeOn February 3 evening a local saw the body of a woman stuck between pipelines ldquoIt was almost decomposed and bitten badly by aquatic animalsrdquo said Nita Padvi subdivisional police officer Palghar police who registered a case of murderldquoWe have arrested two men including her boyfriend within two hours after recovering the body Our investigations are underwayrdquo Padvi told middayAnita Shetty a social activist who helped Catherine in reaching out to senior officers of Mumbai police told midday ldquoFirst the police were not registering the missing complaint and when it was registered they did nothing to trace her We had been telling the police that Carolrsquos boyfriend knows her whereabouts but Zico was allowed to go after 10 minutes He told police that he broke up with Carol almost a fortnight agordquoldquoWhy to advertise so much about Nirbhaya if you police cannot do anything to trace a missing girlrdquo wondered ShettyAfter the body was recovered Palghar police checked the details of missing complaints in the state and got in touch with the Santacruz policeldquoThe Santacruz police took Catherine to Palghar to identify the body And they had not told her that one body had been recovered and she was being taken there to identify it but the cops told her that her daughter was seen somewhere in a resort in Palgharhellip The cops told her to switch off her cellphone donrsquot know for what reason But Catherine happily followed the copsrsquo instruction and reached Palghar only to see a highly decomposed body in a vanrdquo Shetty saidldquoInitially Catherine could not identify the body as it was badly bitten by fishhellip but later when the body was brought to JJ Hospital for postmortem we all identified her with a tattoo of heart and butterflies on her back a crooked finger of her feet and clothesrdquo she saidTalking to midday Catherine said ldquoThey had been dating for over five yearshelliphe knew that I am a widow and have no one to look after me yet he killed my daughterhellip he must be hangedhellip I need justicerdquoThe Palghar police have also recovered Carolrsquos Scooty and her laptop that she carried before leaving the house ldquoAt the time of going out Carol told her mother that she was going to get her medical tests done in Maladhellipshe also called her mother at 1220 am on January 25 and said she was coming back soon but then her cellphone was switched offrdquo said ShettyAfter Carol went missing her mother relatives and friends began searching her room to see if she had taken some clothes with herldquoDuring the search she had written a twopage letter to Zico The letter explains how badly she was disturbedhellip she wanted to mend her relationship but nothing happened as suchhellipwe had also shown the letter to Santa Cruz police but they did nothingrdquo said ShettyWhen asked why Santacruz police failed to identify the alleged killer despite questioning him senior inspector D Ganore said ldquoWe could not identify himrdquo When asked why Nirbhaya squad team could not trace Carolrsquos whereabouts Ganore said ldquoNo commentsrdquoThe last rites of Carol were conducted at St Francis Xavier church in Vile Parle on FridayJan 24When Carol was last seenFeb 3Day Carolrsquos body was found in Palghar1230Time AM on Jan 25 when Carol last called her mother