Key evidence recovered from crime spot

“That the accused had managed to consume alcohol around such a massacre makes this case a little difficult to understand,” said a senior Crime Branch officer.

Once at the spot on Monday,the dog squad personnel picked a stone with a towel,then allowing Fire to take over. “The assailants did not leave behind the weapon they used to slit the throats of the victims. Had we found that,Fire could have led us to the direction the accused went in and many other details,” said the officer. The rain also washed off much of the forensic evidence at the scene.

“We now have to probe if the men consumed alcohol after killing the youths or when they were being brutally assaulted. The fingerprints on the bottles and glasses will also serve as evidence,” said an investigating officer.

On Tuesday,around the time that the bodies were taken in a lorry to the funeral procession in the Shantaram pada slums,a team from the Kalina Forensic Sciences Laboratory reached the fourth nullah in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park,over 5 km from Ramesh Bar where the victims were last seen.

“Blood can never be tampered with,no matter what the environment. We collected samples from four spots and have also found tissue samples and a sample of hair,” said an officer.

The team also found cloth items and an old belt,perhaps left by other visitors. Key items they believe belong to the night of the murder include a blood-smeared watch and lungi,a pair of red floaters and a torn and semi-burnt rag that was once a black and white check shirt. Some samples of oil were also found.

The police also now believe that the victims were not taken to the spot via the Malad route and a “somewhat tricky,secluded and harder route” through the tribal belt in Goregaon was used. “You need to be a regular to reach the spot. It took us over six hours and many navigational errors to reach the spot,” said an officer.