Nagpur, June 15
The CBI has conducted a lie detector test on three suspects in the murder case of architect Eknath Nimgade. Also, forensic tests have been carried out on all accused, except four of the remaining suspects.
Investigating officer Jitendra Kachare informed the Nagpur Bench of the Mumbai High Court in an affidavit. According to the affidavit, the accused were identified as Imran alias Kalu Abdul Karim Ansari, Nazim alias Nasir Khan and Nawab alias Nabbu Chhotesahab Ashrafi.
In April 2021, the First Class Magistrate’s Court had given permission to conduct Mohd Shahbaz Mohd Arshad’s polygraph test along with the three accused. Meanwhile, Mohd Shahbaz’s father died. Also, his mental state was not good. Therefore, his polygraph test could not take place.
Other suspects include Afsar Khan Saheb Khan, Feroz alias Bade Bhai Chhote Sahab Ashrafi, Mushtaq alias Musho Ashrafi, Pyare Sahab Ashrafi, Sheikh Altaf Sheikh Habib, Abdul Haq Abdul Rafiq, Mohsin Ansari alias Raja alias POP Badruddin Ansari, Ranjit Safelkar And Bharat Narayan Hate. Apart from Afsar Khan, Mushtaq Ashrafi, Sheikh Altaf and Abdul Haq, all the other accused have been subjected to forensic tests.
Earlier Maksudal Siddique and Anil Nair of Pioneer Group and Umesh Gupta of Leverage Green Group were initial suspects and statements of Nair and Gupta were recorded, but no concrete evidence was found against them. Siddique passed away on September 2, 2018. Therefore, his statement could not be recorded. However, the staff and the driver, along with their children Zulfiqarkarul and Zaheerul, were examined. No concrete evidence was found from them either. A total of 76 witnesses have been examined so far. Apart from this, CDR records of 42 mobile numbers have been extracted. CCTV footage has been sent to a laboratory in Pune and a report is pending. The presence of the accused at the scene is also being investigated from the mobile phone dump data.
Anupam Nimgade will reply
The son of architect Eknath Nimgade, Adv Anupam Nimgade has filed a petition in the High Court seeking speedy investigation into the matter. The CBI submitted the affidavit and gave detailed information about the investigation to the court. Adv Nimgade then asked the court for two weeks to file a reply to the affidavit. As a result, the petition will be heard next week.
Closed investigation restarted
As no concrete evidence was found, the CBI had closed its probe into the case. A report in this regard was also submitted to the First Class Magistrate Court on December 22, 2020. Subsequently, the Nagpur police commissioner sent a letter to the CBI on March 17, 2021 informing the new suspects. Therefore, on March 30, 2021, the CBI filed an application in the First Class Magistrate’s Court seeking permission to reopen the case. The CBI has re-launched the probe after the application was approved.