Japanese students signatures forged by hotel,says lab report

Investigations into the case of 21-year-old Kota Shinozaki,a Japanese student who was reported missing from Agra in September 2006,has revealed that the hotel from which he is believed to have last checked out had forged his signatures.

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Investigations into the case of 21-year-old Kota Shinozaki,a Japanese student who was reported missing from Agra in September 2006,has revealed that the hotel from which he is believed to have last checked out had forged his signatures.

The Agra-based Forensic Science Laboratory claims that the signature of the student on the check-out form of Hotel Chanakya had been forged by Bhagwan Singh,the hotel receptionist. The check-in and the check-out forms of Shinozaki were sent to the laboratory for examination after the hotel authorities said they knew nothing about the student after he checked out on September 6,2006.

This report will serve as vital evidence in court. Till now,the hotel had been claiming it didnt have any information about Shinozaki, said Investigating Officer (IO) V K Tiwari.

Last year,the police filed a chargesheet against seven persons hotel owner Kishori Lal Mahor,his son Harish Mohar,housekeeping boy Balbeer Singh,receptionist Bhagwan Singh,manager Dharmendra,tourist guide Lalta Prasad and hotel cashier Anoop Kumar Agarwal on charges of kidnapping,forgery for the purpose of cheating and forgery of valuable security. The IO said that in view of the laboratory report,the accused will be questioned again.

Interestingly,Dharmendra and Lalta Prasad are in jail,while Balbeer Singh and Bhagwan Singh have been out on bail. Kishori Lal,Harish and Anoop Kumar have also got a stay on their arrest.

The police had,earlier,conducted narco-analysis,polygraph and brain-mapping tests on taxi driver Raju,who ferried Shinozaki from Jaipur to Agra,Dharmendra Kumar and Lalta Prasad,who accompanied the student to Taj Mahal.

The polygraph and brain-mapping tests were conducted on Balbeer Singh,Bhagwan Singh,and another receptionist Gaurav. The narco-test of Dharmendra Kumar established that Balbeer Singh had removed Shinozakis belongings from the hotel room. But when we questioned Balbeer,he denied the allegations. It is not known what happened to the belongings, said the IO.

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Kota came to India as a tourist in September 2006. On September 5,he is believed to have visited Agra and checked into Hotel Chanakya. The same day,guide Lalta Prasad took him to show the Taj Mahal. Lalta Prasad told police that he dropped Shinozaki to the hotel and that he had no information on what happened to the student after that.

When Shinozakis family received no news of him,they contacted the Japan Embassy in Delhi. An FIR was lodged at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.

During investigation by the Delhi Police,it was established that Shinozaki first went to Jaipur and then visited Agra. The investigation was,therefore,transferred to the Agra police in December 2006.

In October last year,Shinozakis mother Eiko and sister Yoshie came to India and met Governor B L Joshi and DGP Karamvir Singh.

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Japanese students signatures forged by hotel,says lab report

Investigations into the case of 21-year-old Kota Shinozaki,a Japanese student who was reported missing from Agra in September 2006,has revealed that the hotel from which he is believed to have last checked out  had forged his signatures.

Japanese students signatures forged by hotel,says lab report

Investigations into the case of 21-year-old Kota Shinozaki,a Japanese student who was reported missing from Agra in September 2006,has revealed that the hotel from which he is believed to have last checked out had forged his signatures.