GRP gives up search for Jaybala Ashar8217;s attacker

The team had been set up by the Government Railway Police five days after Jaybala Ashar was pushed out of a Borivli-bound local between Charni Road and Grant Road on October 10 last year by a suspected drug addict. The 25-member team led by inspector Y R Bajpai of the Mumbai Central railway police station followed various leads for over two months without success.

8220;We rounded up 167 suspects from various parts of the city but Jaybala could not identify any of them. So we were left with no choice but to discontinue investigation,8221; said Bajpai. The suspects included peoplefrom various strata of society including ragpickers, drug addicts, mechanics and social workers. The investigation, though fruitless, had its moments of excitement. When the railway police picked up a ragpicker named Ravi Mudaliar last November, they thought they had their man. 8220;He looked exactly like the man in the picture,8221; said Ramchandran, referring to the sketch drawn by the police based on Jaybala8217;s description of the mugger. But when he was brought before Jaybala, she said he was not the attacker. Further investigations revealed the innocence of Mudaliar, police claimed.

In another incident, the police caught a car mechanic from Kandivli only to find out that his parents-in-law, angry with him for ill-treating their daughter, had lodged a false complaint against him. In a third case, a 61-year-old social worker from Mulund named Patrick D8217;Souza found himself in police custody, again based on a false complaint. The railway police had already found the case rather difficult to detect by the end ofDecember but pressure from the public and politicians kept them going. 8220;I even had to go to Nagpur to answer questions from the legislators over the incident,8221; said Bajpai.

The lack of evidence in the case has also sown doubts in the minds of many officials regarding the veracity of Jaybala8217;s version. 8220;It is extremely difficult to believe that the three girls, who Jaybala claims to have been inside the compartment, did not even make a phone call to the police,8221; said an official. Jaybala, however, has strongly disclaimed these doubts. 8220;I saw them with my own eyes,8221; she told Express Newsline.

Gifted with over Rs 6 lakh as donations from various agencies including the railway ministry, the state government and individual donors and also a computer with an Internet connection by Shammi Kapoor, Jaybala plans to finish off her graduation in commerce before applying to the railways for a job.

As Jaybala awaits a job and the police a fresh lead into the case, the incident seems to be fading awayfrom public memory.