City police have achieved little besides recording statements of suspects

The city was rocked recently by some cases of crime that happened almost back to back. If the sensational shootout at Paldi, rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl at Bapunagar, gruesome murder of city-based physician in the outskirts of the city, a daring dacoity in an angadia firm besides a host of thefts and break-ins that are almost a regular occurrence have shocked citizens, their days of trauma aren't yet over, thanks to our city police's inability to solve the cases and catch the culprits.

Apart from a breakthrough in the Rs14 lakh angadia loot case, the city police have yet to make a breakthrough in the other major cases. For all others, the police have only the suspects' statements as alibi for work progress on the cases.

Talking to DNA, joint commissioner of police, Sector 1, Mohan Jha said that the police were 'working' on these cases. Besides taking statements, they have also taken forensic experts' help to crack the cases, he said, adding that since these cases are 'priority cases', police are conducting 'thorough investigation'.

While throwing light on the investigation work done in the gruesome murder of Dr Hitesh Shah, investigating officer and Vejalpur PI GR Ghadhvi said, "We have interrogated all probable suspects, including Shah's wife, son and other family members, apart from Tilotama, his business partners and some other local goons. However, we are yet to make a breakthrough in the case." Meanwhile, the city police will also conduct lie detection test on Tilotama and also on members of the deceased's family in the coming days.

"We have sent some suspects in the case for medical tests, including the DNA test, and the medical reports are awaited," said Ajay Kumar Chaudhary, the deputy commissioner of police, Zone 5, when DNA asked him about the progress made in the case of rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl, Meeta Marwadi, at a municipal school in Bapunagar. Interestingly, the Bapunagar police has drawn a complete blank in investigation of the case. The body was discovered on February 4 in the girl's lavatory of the school.

Apart from the Ellisbridge police's claims that colour photographs of two absconding suspects, Jagdish Chauhan and Arun Deshmukh, in the Paldi shootout case 'will be sent to all police station in the state soon', not much work has been done in the case wherein one person was severely injured on that fateful night. According to police who interrogated Chauhan's family members at Ratlam, Chauhan's wife claimed she received a call from her husband stating that he was arrested, and thereafter the family has no contact with him at all.

Roshan Kumar/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication