Nayagarh: Amidst questions pouring in from all sides on the veracity of the SIT version in the 'rape and murder' of the five-year-old girl at Jadupur in Nayagarh district, senior IPS officer Arun Bothra, the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the case, today clarified on the missing-bones claims and the doubts raised over the minor's body decomposing in just a few days.
Apparently trying to clear the air, Bothra told reporters, "No bones of the deceased girl are missing. The post mortem report has no mention of any missing bone, and the doctors too have corroborated the same."
After the skeletal remains were traced in July, Bothra said, bones were sent to lab for DNA testing to identify the body of deceased.
On being asked why the police sniffer dogs failed to trace the decomposed body by following the trail of the stench, the senior official said, "The SIT hasn't used dog squad. So I cannot comment on dog squad."
"The towel, which Saroj used to clean blood stains after killing the 5-year-old girl has been sent to lab for testing. The accused had washed the towel several times but bloodstains were found. The towel and leggings are major evidence in the case," the SIT chief told media persons.
What's more shocking is the fact that the family of Saroj Sethi has now been accused of shielding him. Bothra stated that someone from his family knew about the crime and "we are trying to extract from them when exactly did they come to know about this."
"Before being arrested, accused Saroj Sethi had been tracking the police investigation. He has also collected so much information about me and SIT from Google. He knows many things about me, more than what I know about him. What I had thought of him, he is in fact way more smarter than that," said Bothra.
In another development, the SIT today took prime accused Saroj Sethi to Jadupur village for reconstruction of the crime scene, the modus operandi and subsequent destruction of evidence by the accused.
When this was happening, Saroj's mother once again raised her voice alleging SIT of falsely implicating her son in the ghastly crime. "My son is innocent," she reiterated.
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