In a significant development in a chilling abduction and murder case, the Nigohan police in Lucknow have recovered a mobile phone allegedly used during the crime. This breakthrough came after investigators secured a short police custody remand for two prime accused, officials revealed on Tuesday.
Grisly Discovery and Initial Investigation
The case pertains to the murder of Kabir, also known as Shiv Prakash, whose half-burnt body was discovered in Unnao on November 16. Following the grim find, an FIR was registered at the Nigohan police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), encompassing charges of murder, destruction of evidence, and criminal conspiracy.
Police probes unveiled a horrifying sequence of events. It was established that on November 15, Kabir was forcibly taken from Lalpur village. He was subsequently killed, and his body was transported to Vighapur in Unnao district, where the perpetrators set it on fire in a desperate bid to erase evidence.
The Accused and the Elusive Evidence
Investigators named six individuals in the case. Among them, Sujit Kumar Srivastava and Dilip Kumar Rawat were identified as the alleged masterminds behind the brutal crime. While all the accused were arrested on different dates, a crucial piece of evidence remained missing: the mobile phones used during the incident, including the victim's own handset.
During interrogations, the accused repeatedly misled the police about the whereabouts of these devices. This obstruction forced the investigation team to seek a new legal avenue to trace the critical electronic evidence.
Custody Remand Leads to Critical Recovery
Acting on fresh inputs that emerged during the ongoing investigation, the police moved an application before the court, seeking police custody remand for the two key accused, Srivastava and Rawat. The objective was clear: to press for the recovery of the missing phones.
The court granted a 24-hour police custody remand on January 6. This brief but crucial window yielded immediate results. During fresh questioning, the accused led a police team to a spot near the Rae Bareli Highway.
The location was under a bridge, close to the Vrindavan restaurant in the Dudauli area. After an extensive search in the bushes near a drain, the police team successfully recovered a blue-coloured keypad mobile phone that was allegedly used in the incident. A back cover of another mobile phone was also found at the same spot.
This recovery marks a vital step forward for the Nigohan police, providing them with potential digital evidence that could corroborate the sequence of events and establish stronger links in the chain of evidence against the accused. The investigation into the abduction and murder of Kabir alias Shiv Prakash continues as authorities piece together the full narrative of the crime.
