A week after the body of 40-year-old Dariyabai Shankarlalji Lachheta alias Chaudhary, was found inside the women's compartment of Bhuj Express on December 7, the Government Railway Police (GRP) got their first breakthrough — a visual of the suspect (from Borivli station) wearing the same clothes found at the scene of the crime. He can be seen boarding the train at Borivli.
An officer privy to the investigation said a red shirt and cap had been recovered from the spot. Police suspect that the accused boarded the train from Borivli, and after killing the woman, got off somewhere between Mahim and Matunga, because the train slows down on that stretch. Apart from questioning more than 500 ragpickers on the Surat-Churchgate line, the team has also shown the CCTV grab to over 1,000 scrap dealers in the area to trace the accused.
The GRP has appointed more than 100 cops selected from 17 GRP police stations for the job. Moreover, 40 Crime Branch officers are also assisting them in the probe. Four GRP teams have been dispatched to Surat, while the others are questioning people living and working on the Surat-Churchgate stretch to get more clues.
Based on the suspicion that the accused might have attacked the woman with a knife or a sharp object that shoemakers use for cutting thread, they questioned more than 200 cobblers on the stretch as well as in areas near railway stations. Cops have also scanned the CCTV cameras on Tulsipipe road and inquired about the accused at nearby shops. They even spoke to the cobblers at Chira Bazaar wholesale market.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a police officer said, "The CCTV footage recovered from Borivli station shows the accused roaming in the premises. Though he boarded the train from the station, he didn't get down at Dadar, which is the last stop. The train does not halt anywhere between Borivli and Dadar. So there is a strong possibility that he got down somewhere between Mahim and Matunga."
"As some of the CCTV cameras on platform number 6 and at the entry and exit points were not working, it is still not clear from where he entered the entered the railway station," he added.
Another officer said, "On the day of the incident, two trains were scheduled between Bhuj and Mumbai. One was a special one, which terminates at Dadar, and the other regular one ends at Bandra. As most of the people take the regular one, the special train might have been almost empty after Borivli, which is when the murder took place."
