In a fresh revelation in the investigation into the death mystery of senior Journalist Navin Das’ son, Manish Anurag , the police have found that the woman seen in the CCTV footage recovered from near a hotel in Bhubaneswar happens to be the girlfriend of the deceased’s friend.
In the footage, believed to be the last visual of Manish before he went missing under mysterious circumstances on Saturday night, the woman is seen walking few metres ahead of him.
Top sources in the Commissionerate police told OTV on Thursday that the identity of the woman was established during the questioning of two of Manish’s friends who had surrendered before the Phulbani police on Wednesday.
Mrutyunjay Mishra and Dinesh Mohapatra, the suspects, had been brought to Bhubaneswar for questioning in connection with the case, though the police are yet to put them under arrest.
The police had obtained the footage from the hotel on Wednesday.
The police expect the disclosure of the woman, who is currently being searched for, could help solve the death mystery.
Meanwhile, from the questioning of the detained suspects, the police have reportedly learnt that Manish had an altercation with his friends over payment of bill at the hotel on Saturday night. Following the altercation, Manish had reportedly called his parents for money and received Rs 8000 through two UPI transactions of Rs 5000 and Rs 3000 each. However, it is still unclear if the said fight has anything to do with his (Manish) death.
The body of Manish had been recovered under mysterious circumstances from a pond at Patrapada on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on Sunday afternoon. He had reportedly gone missing from a location under Infocity police limits on Saturday.
It was also alleged that Manish had been abducted by two persons in a car from Infocity area on Saturday night. The abductors had also reportedly made a ransom call to the family members.
The police have already detained one of the two co-passengers of the car in which Manish reportedly travelled on Saturday night.