Prime suspect in Anuhya case held

• Accused confesses
• Victim’s parents sceptical
• Cops yet to recover strolley bag

Hyderabad/ Vijayawada: The Special Investigating Team (SIT) of Crime Branch, Mumbai, on Monday picked up from Nashik the prime suspect in the sensational case of rape and murder of 23- year-old Esther Anuhya, a techie from Machilipatnam. Identified as Chandrabhan Sanap (38), the accused resembled the man who was spotted along with Anuhya in the CC TV footage after her arrival at the LTT railway station in Mumbai on January 5.

A former railway porter and part-time cab driver, he was at large for the past one-and-a-half months forcing both the Mumbai police and the railway police to make all out efforts for a break through the investigation. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) questioned the suspect at Kurla police station after they reportedly established that he was the man seen with Anuhya.

Chandrabhan Sanap alias Choukya had grown moustache and a beard in a bid to elude the police. Police also picked up one of his friends who helped Chandrabhan in hiding after committing the crime. Chandrabhan was produced in a court and remanded to police custody till March 15.

Police said Sanap has admitted to his crime though such confessions in police custody are not admissible in court.

The victim's decomposed body was found off the Eastern Express Highway in suburban Bhandup on January 16 almost ten days after she reached Mumbai from Machilipatnam. Sanap was identified as the culprit after several police teams questioned nearly 2,500 people, minutely studied footage from 36 closed circuit television camera (CCTV) and went through telephone records besides relying on "human intelligence".

The police said that on the intervening night of January 4-5, Sanap had consumed alcohol with his friends before arriving at the Kurla railway terminus at around 4.15 am with the intention of robbing railway passengers.

Sanap has cases of mobile theft and bag lifting cases registered against him at the Gamdevi police station, Itarsi in Madhya Pradesh and Manmad railway station among others. He is also a proclaimed offender in the records of Gamdevi police station, said Maria. Sanap, who spotted Anuhya sitting at Kurla railway terminus, offered to drop her at her residence at Andheri for a sum of Rs 300.

To convince Anuhya, Sanap gave her his mobile phone number and brought her to the parking lot at the Kurla terminus, said the commissioner.

When Anuhya realised that Sanap did not have a cab but only a motorcycle, she was hesitant to go with him. But Sanap told her that she could give his motorcycle and mobile numbers to any person she knew to ensure that she was safe with him.

Unfortunately, Anuhya did not have enough talk time on her pre-paid mobile phone and could not make the call. Anuhya pretended to make a call and then sat on his bike.

Sanap took her to the Eastern Express Highway and tried to rob her. When Anuhya resisted, Sanap banged her head on the ground and then strangulated her with a stole that she was wearing. "Sanap claims that he did not sexually assault the victim but we are still investigating this angle," according to Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria. Sanap then went to his father's house at Kanjurmarg and called one of his friends, identified as one Nandkishore Sahu, to inform him about the murder. Later at 10 am, Sanap came to Mulund and boarded a bus to Nashik. Sanap gave Anuhya's strolley bag to a beggar there and told the beggar that he was donating the belongings of his dead wife.

The crime branch recovered the strolley bag which was identified as Anuhya's by her friends. "We have sought for a special counsel in this case to ensure that it is foolproof and watertight," said Maria.

Police have slapped charges of murder and destruction of evidence against Sanap, who had tried to burn the body.

Forensic experts could not ascertain if Anuhya was sexually assaulted as her body was found in a highly decomposed state. Anuhya's family, however, said they would believe the police version only after they recover her laptop, bag and other belongings from the suspect. "Our relatives are meeting police officers in Mumbai to know the details. Police have to recover the laptop and bag from the man and then only we will be convinced that he is the culprit," Anuhya's father Surendra Prasad said in Machilipatnam. There is still no clarity as to who Anuhya was speaking to.

Surendra Prasad had told police that she made the last phone call on the night of January 4 when the Visakhapatnam-Mumbai LTT Express, which she had boarded at Vijayawada, reached Pune. The woman promised to call the family after reaching her hostel at Andheri in Mumbai. As she did not call again, the family lodged a police complaint.