Esther Anuhya murder: Accused nabbed, sent to custody till 15 Mar

Close to two months after TCS techie Esther Anuhya’s body was found in a decomposed state the Mumbai police on Monday claimed to have nabbed the accused. The 28-year-old accused, Chandrabhan alias Chaukya Sudam Sanap, a taxi driver, was produced in court and has been sent to the police custody till 15 March.

“We picked up the accused from Kanjurmag (East) on Sunday evening and took him to Nashik to recover the victim’s trolley bag. The bag has been recovered and identified by the victim’s friend,” said Rakesh Maria, Commissioner of Mumbai Police while addressing the media on Monday evening. He said that accused’s friend, Nandkumar Sahu, a resident of Jharkhand, had also been brought to Mumbai on Monday afternoon.

Maria added that Sanap, a resident of Kanjurmarg (E), has admitted to the crime during the interrogations. “In all, we have examined 2,500 people and minutely scrutined of 36 CCTV footages. We have arrested the accused based on the technical evidence, CCTV footages, telephone records coupled with human intelligence. Now, we have sought a special counsel in the case to make it as foolproof and watertight as possible,” Maria said adding that nine special teams had been formed in last 15 days, apart from the teams of the Crime Branch, anti-robbery and anti-dacoity cell.

Esther Anuhya, a 23-year-old software engineer, went missing after her arrival at the Lokmanya Tilak terminus in Mumbai from her native of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh on 5 January. Her mutilated, burnt and decomposed body was found off the Eastern Express Highway on 16 January.

Speaking about the details of the fateful day, Maria said, “The accused, who drank the previous day, picked up the girl from Kurla Terminus platform no 4 and 5 by pretending to be a taxi driver. He assured to drop her at her residence in Andheri (W) for sum of Rs 300.

While the victim was reluctant to go, he convinced her by giving his mobile number and took her to parking lot of the terminus. After reaching parking lot, the victim realisd that its not a taxi but a motorcycle.”

Maria added that the victim might have agreed to go as she was tired and desperate to reach home. “The accused took the victim via Eastern Express Highway and took her off to the service road near Bhandup (E) where the accused tried to rob her. Since the victim resisted strongly, he banged her head on the ground a couple of times and strangulated her with the scarf which she was wearing.”

Maria added that the accused claims that he did not assault her sexually but we are still investigating it. “After committing the crime, the accused went to his father’s house in Kanjurmarg (E) and called his friend, to whom the motorcycle belonged, and told about the murder. Then he came to the spot to search for the victim’s mobile. He did not find her mobile and set her on fire by pouring petrol from the motorcycle. He then fled from the city at 10 am from Mulund to Nashik,” he added.

Maria added that the accused’s father was a coolie (porter) with the Central Railway and worked at the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) till 2007. “After he suffered a stroke in 2007, he transferred the badge on the accused’s name. The accused worked for a year at CST and then for another year at Kurla terminus. But, the accused sold the badge in 2009 because of his drinking habit and started working as a driver for a private call centre,” Maria explained.

According to the police, the cases of mobile theft and baggage lifting has been recorded against Sanap in Gaomdevi police station, in Nashik Road, in Manmad Railway police station and in Madhya Pradesh.