Esther Anuhya, a software engineer with Tata Consultancy Services, went missing on January 5 after she arrived in Mumbai from Hyderabad, where she had celebrated Christmas with her family. File Pics
Cops investigating the murder case of Hyderabad techie Esther Anuhya have reached a dead end, yet again. Having worked on the case for over 45 days, cops from Kanjurmarg police station, Crime Branch and GRP are still clueless about the suspect's whereabouts.
"We have left no stone unturned in the case. Each and every link was minutely examined, but still there is no new lead in the case. The suspect, who is seen in the CCTV footage escorting Anuhya from LTT on January 5 - and whose images have been made public by the police - is untraceable," said an officer, who is a part of the investigating team.
Based on the footage retrieved from the CCTV cameras installed in LTT, the cops began their investigations. Desperate attempts were made to trace the suspect by sending police teams to the city of Hyderabad, of which the victim was a native.
"Many times, the investigations were derailed because of look-alikes of the suspect. We had even browsed through the CCTV footage of the station from where the victim had boarded the train, but there is still no trace of the suspect," the officer added.
Initially, the cops had footage of Esther speaking on a phone at 5.11 am in LTT, with the suspect walking beside her.
This phone, however, was not found anywhere near Anuhya's body when it was discovered from the bushes in Tata Nagar Colony in Bhandup (East) on January 16.
"It is possible that the said phone belonged to the suspect, which he handed over to Anuhya so she could speak to someone. We browsed through all the calls transmitted from the tower close to LTT at that time, but could not get any leads. It is possible that Anuhya spoke to the accused on an internet call, and we have now put some experts on the job to get details," said a senior officer from the Crime Branch.
The cops are now conducting random searches at the wine shops and beer bars, in hope of chancing upon the suspect, as eyewitnesses and CCTV footage imply that he was an alcoholic.