Accused moves high court for passport in Smitha George missing case

Kochi: In the 11-year-old Smitha George missing case, her former husband Sabu Antony has moved the Kerala high court seeking his passport, which was seized by the crime branch during probe.The court will consider the plea on Wednesday .
Smitha George, a resident of Changampuzha Road at Edappally had gone missing on September 3, 2005, a day after reaching Dubai where Antony was working.
Antony , a native of Chirakkal near Palluruthy , was arrested by the crime branch when he returned to the country from the US in February , 2015. The crime branch could not go deep into the case as the woman had gone missing in Dubai.
The Central Bureau of Investigation, which recently took over the case had filed an FIR naming Antony as the first accused in the case. The agency will request the court to reject Antony's plea as there are chances for the accused to leave the country .
The CBI has initiated the probe and collected statements from Smitha's family .
“Though the state police and crime branch had conducted a detailed probe in the case, the CBI will conduct an independent and fresh probe,“ said CBI sources.
The CBI will collect statements of Antony , his live-inpartner Devayani and other witnesses in the case. As the crime took place in Dubai, the investigation team will visit Dubai, said sources. The CBI will also conduct lie detection tests on Antony and fresh DNA matching tests to confirm the identity of a woman's corpse, suspected to be that of Smitha, preserved at a hospital in Dubai.
Apart from CBI, Dubai special crime investigation department is also probing the case.