Groping in the dark even after a suspect’s arrest in the Nehru Nagar murder case, the police are now trying to track the details of the victim’s ATM card, which has been missing since the day of the crime, to find out if the suspect had tried to use it after she was killed.
Karishma Mane (24), a resident of Nehru Nagar in Kurla (east), was stabbed in the back near the Suman Nagar flyover, while she was on her way to Kurla railway station on the morning of May 24. Ms. Mane succumbed to her injuiries at Surana hospital in Chembur half an hour after the assault.
On Sunday evening, the Nehru Nagar police arrested Suman Nagar resident Salim Sheikh, who was seen by a witness walking away from the scene of the crime minutes after the murder,.
Case shaky
The case against Sheikh is shaky, with the police finding nothing incriminating at his house or in his possession, and no motive apart from possible robbery emerging in the probe so far.
Ms. Mane’s shoulder bag has been missing since the day of the murder, and the only theory the police have to work on is that her assailant fled with the bag after stabbing her.
“We are obtaining details of the ATM card from Karishma’s family and contacting her bank to find out if there was an attempt to use the card after the murder. If there was an attempt, we could visit the ATM kiosk concerned and access the CCTV footage,” an officer with Nehru Nagar police station said.
The only piece of ‘evidence’ that the police have, which could possibly connect Sheikh to the murder, is that his cellular location was the same as that of the scene of the crime when the murder was committed. However, this, too, is intrinsically flawed: cellular location only shows the cellular service tower in whose range the number concerned was at the given time.
The police said that even Sheikh’s residence in Suman Nagar is in the range of the same tower that covers the spot where the murder occurred. Sheikh might as well have been sitting at home when the murder occurred and his cellular location would still be in the range of the same tower. Further, Sheikh’s own cell phone was switched off on the day of the crime, and he was using a friend’s cell phone, and it is this cell phone whose location the police mapped, a source revealed.
“Under existing rules, cellular service providers are required to reveal only the tower locations of their customers to law enforcement agencies, and not specific locations,” an officer said.
Inquiries under way
When contacted, senior police inspector Pramod Khoparde, Nehru Nagar police station, said, “Our inquiries are under way. The motive is still not clear. Sheikh has not been cooperative during interrogation.”
Karishma Mane was stabbed near Suman Nagar flyover while on her way to Kurla station on May 24
