Latest suspect’s DNA does not match samples found on victims

Kantrole was arrested by the Mumbai Police in 2007 and had been charged for the murder of three of the seven men who were found dead under mysterious circumstances in the South Mumbai area. The murders had taken place from October 2006 to January 2007. Kantrole was acquitted by a Sessions Court in 2008 in two of the three cases,and was undergoing life imprisonment in Nashik Jail when he was acquitted by the Bombay High Court in September 2009.

To check whether Kantrole may have had a role in the murders of the three girls from the area,the Cuffe Parade police had taken his blood samples to match it with the two separate foreign DNA samples found on Karishma and Angel.

“Foreign DNA was found on both Karishma and Angel. The DNA samples found on both are different and do not belong to the same person. Since Kantrole was a suspect in the earlier serial killings,he was brought for DNA tests. The results have come out negative,which means he may not have anything to do with the murder,” said an officer part of the investigating team.

The officer said the police are now probing the possibility of a copycat killer in the case because of the two separate foreign DNA found on two of the victims. The police,however,still maintain that Jagruti and Karishma were killed by the same person.

“The possibility of a killer inspired by the first two murders is something we are considering. With two different DNA samples being found on the victims,we have to probe along those lines. This case may be like the Nehru Nagar killings of 2010 where the person arrested for the third murder in the area did not have anything to do with the first two cases,” said the officer.