VIJAYAWADA: Acting on the directions of High Court (HC) to investigate into the murder case of 17-year-old B-Pharmacy student Ayesha Meera afresh on November 29, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths reportedly visited Vijayawada on Saturday and began their investigation.Ayesha Meera was found dead under mysterious circumstances in her hostel room on the intervening night of December 26 and 27, 2007.
After the High Court acquitted Pidathala Satyam Babu, who completed eight years in prison on March 31, 2017, the victim’s mother, Shamshad Begum, filed a petition and the State police department, in response, constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe into the case. The SIT, however, failed to bring the case toa logical conclusion.
In its recent order, the High Court has directed the CBI officials to file a case against the court staff for the destruction of evidence pertaining to the murder case in October 2014. Keeping the court order in mind, a team of CBI officials reportedly visited the city and conducted a preliminary inquiry into the destruction of evidence. The investigation agency reportedly collected details of all court employees, especially the staff working in the evidence room.
According to sources, the CBI officials are refusing to give details about the investigation to avoid unnecessary publicity.“The earlier investigation agency (SIT) failed to solve the case in 10 months. CBI officials do not want unnecessary publicity. Also, with the case being in the purview of High Court, CBI officials are tight-lipped on the developments,” said a court official on the condition of anonymity.
The HC has also instructed the SIT officials to submit documents and information related to the case to the CBI. “The SIT officials will soon hand over the materials pertaining to the case to CBI and it is believed that the former will give a presentation in front of the latter on the case and its suspects (as alleged by Ayesha’s mother),” the official said.
When TNIE contacted CBI officials, they remained tight-lipped and refused to reveal how they were planning to go about the investigation. “Details of the probe will not be disclosed at the moment as the officer, who will be investigating into the case and his team are yet to be decided. The announcement will be made soon,” said Vizag Range SP (CBI) SB Shankar.