Bhubaneswar: Police have initiated a ‘tower dump’ analysis on Monday to trace three unidentified suspects who allegedly set a 15-year-old girl on fire in Puri on Saturday, leaving her in critical condition. She is battling for life at AIIMS Delhi.“Limited CCTV coverage in the rural area offered minimal leads about the perpetrators,” a police officer said. A team of cyber experts from the state crime branch visited the village on Monday to gather information about mobile towers near the crime location.Law enforcement officials contacted mobile service providers to examine all active mobile numbers in the area during the alleged crime. Police explained that tower dumping technology enables them to collect data about mobile phones operating within a specific tower’s range.Following data collection from service providers, police would filter local residents’ numbers to potentially identify suspects’ mobile numbers that were active during the incident.“Our investigation continues. Neither CCTV footage nor witnesses have seen any suspect. We have investigated the victim’s statements thoroughly. However, no evidence supports her claims about the suspects,” said a police officer, who did not wish to be named.Earlier investigations revealed a plastic container at the girl’s house matching two kerosene bottles had been discovered at the crime scene, indicating possible self-harm and challenging the original account of an attack by three unknown assailants. Police are waiting for forensic reports of the bottles.“Initially, the girl stated she was at her uncle’s house near her village during the incident. Our verification showed she hadn’t visited there. She then claimed she was meeting a friend, but we found no such person exists,” the police officer said.The girl’s relatives expressed dissatisfaction with the investigation’s progress. “Senior police officers keep visiting our village and home without any breakthrough. Rather than finding the culprits, they are suggesting our girl harmed herself, which seems untrue,” a family member said.
