Nagpur: The 19-year-old Jay Yadav, prime accused in the brutal murder of his 14-year-old best friend Atharva Nanore, has left city police stunned with his remorseless and nonchalant behaviour inside the lock-up. Along with accomplices Kunal Shahu and Ayush Shahu, Jay is in police custody remand for five days.According to cops handling the case, the complete lack of remorse shown by the main accused is more than baffling. “After committing his first crime, that too, the murder of a best friend — Jay is disturbingly calm and aloof. Even hardened criminals don’t show such traits. He showed surprising calmness and kept misleading cops during interrogation,” said a senior officer. “Jay nearly misled cops to implicate someone else and furnished as many as four different stories, leaving cops puzzled until he named the two Shahus, who later spilled the beans,” said an officer, adding that Jay was handling police interrogation like a hardened criminal.Jay, along with two accomplices, allegedly strangled Atharva on April 2 in a botched ransom plot. Police said Jay allegedly watched without emotion as Kunal Shahu strangled Atharva and later helped dispose of the body. After the murder, Jay returned to Gittikhadan, joined the family in searching for Atharva, pasted missing posters, and even participated in local protests demanding justice for the missing boy.Kunal too has been described as equally remorseless and emotionless during questioning. In contrast, Ayush is learnt to have shown some signs of repentance during interrogation. He told cops that he was unaware about the murder plan, though he knew about the kidnapping.On Tuesday, the case was handed over to ACP Suhas Jagtap of the Sadar division. While Jagtap has taken charge of the investigation, the Gittikhadan police team is working to collect further evidence, including confiscating the vehicle used in the crime.
