Patna: The CBI intensified its probe into the alleged rape and death of an 18-year-old NEET student by reaching Jehanabad for the third time on Thursday. A five-member team, including a woman inspector, arrived at the student’s maternal uncle’s village in Makhdumpur police station area to conduct further inquiries.The team spent several hours questioning the maternal uncle and other family members. The CBI team took him to Patna for questioning on Wednesday (Feb 18), but when he failed to turn up, the team reached Makhdumpur.
This visit followed two prior trips to the victim’s native village in Jehanabad—on Sunday (Feb 15) and Tuesday (Feb 17)—during which the CBI extensively interrogated the victim’s parents, brother, sister-in-law, grandmother, aunt, and other relatives in her native village. On Feb 17, the CBI team also confiscated the girl’s brother’s cellphone.When questioned about its whereabouts initially, the family members stated it was handed over for repair at a shop in Makhdumpur. The team proceeded to the shop but found it closed. Subsequently, the phone was recovered from a nearby paan shop, where the shopkeeper revealed that an unidentified person left it, saying someone would collect it. A technical team is trying to recover the data, call details, and messages from the recovered phone.The SIT officials, who earlier investigated the case, said when they asked for the cellphone, the girl’s brother claimed that it was broken and he had given it to a repair shop. “We told the CBI only that the cellphone was broken and there are some suspicions. The cellphone broke after the girl went to her native place on Dec 27 last year. After a few days, her brother left for Bhojpur, taking his mother’s cellphone. All these things are quite suspicious,” the officials said.The CBI has already questioned the SIT, the police station sub-inspector concerned, and the family members.On Thursday, the suspended Kadamkuan police station SI Hemant Jha was summoned to the CBI office in Patna and interrogated for about 30 minutes over his alleged initial negligence. When the hospital informed the police about the student’s admission to Dr Prabhat Memorial Hiramati Hospital on Jan 6, he reportedly delayed action, only recording the family’s statement. Later, after the case escalated an FIR was filed at Chitragupt Nagar police station on Jan 9. His suspension by the Patna SSP stemmed from this dereliction.A CBI team retraced the route from Rajendra Nagar Terminal to the hostel, surveyed the locality, spoke with residents, and inquired about the hostel’s activities, the owner’s conduct, and his frequent visitors.Parallel to the CBI efforts, the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team visited the family’s Jehanabad home on Wednesday after two threatening letters arrived within 48 hours. The team collected samples, measured doors and windows, and examined handwriting to determine if a person wrote both notes. Security has been enhanced for the family.The student was found unconscious in her room at a girls’ hostel on Jan 6, underwent treatment across hospitals, and died on Jan 11. Forensic findings, including semen traces on her clothes, and postmortem reports indicated possible sexual assault.
