Every contact leaves a trace,” said Edmond Locard, nicknamed the Sherlock Holmes of France for his pioneering work in forensic science. Only, the investigator at the crime scene needs the observational skills to find it.
The Angamaly police recently tested the theory during their investigation into the dumping of truck loads of food waste in Manjalithodu, a tributary of the Periyar.
A business card recovered at the scene led the police straight to the doorsteps of the culprits. The card stuck to one of the garbage sacks dumped in the water body bore the address of a catering agency, which had purportedly dumped the waste.
The police summoned the culprits, who summarily confessed to the act and cleaned up the waste on their own.
The police had been making futile attempts, including surprise inspections, to trap the waste dumpers only for them to outfox the force every single time.
Exploring a
blind alley
It looks as if the police are up a blind alley yet again with their investigation into the Kochi cocaine case.
The police team investigating the case has been unable to file the charge-sheet against the last three accused in the case owing to the delay in confirming the identity of Okowe Chigozie Collins, the Nigerian accused of being a drug peddler.
“Despite repeated attempts, we are yet to make any headway in confirming his whereabouts and have now sent a police team to the Nigerian Embassy in New Delhi. The delay has been frustrating but we have to furnish his details while filing the charge-sheet or else, it will weaken the case,” said an officer .Initial assessment by the police showed that Okowe had landed in India using a fake passport and a forged visa. The sixth accused in the case, Okowe, was nabbed from Parsem in Goa last month after the police traced him using CCTV visuals and descriptions given by other accused. An earlier move by the police to nab him, then identified as Franco, had gone in vain despite an extensive man hunt across the length and breadth of the coastal state. That the case is top priority for the investigators is no secret in the force, especially after the department’s failure in proving beyond doubt the use of cocaine by the accused.
Hopeful of a breakthrough, officials have been continuing to scrutinise the evidence gathered though they believe that no more persons are involved in the crime. “We are not taking any chances anyway and have once again begun breaking down the details for further leads,” they said.
Hiran Unnikrishnan
