KOCHI: The police investigating the mystery behind in the death of 13-year-old Vaiga Sanu and the disappearance of her father got a breakthrough on Wednesday after they identified the CCTV footage of her father’s car crossing Walayar tollbooth towards Tamil Nadu.
Though the preliminary investigation shows that it could be a case of accident or suicide, the police have not ruled out the girl’s murder. Her father, Sanu Mohan, 40, an interior designer, has been missing since Sunday while the body of the girl was found from the Muttar near Manjummel in Kochi. “As per the CCTV visuals, Sanu’s car crossed the Walayar tollbooth exactly at 1.30am on Monday. Since the time matches with the time the girl had gone missing, we can’t rule out the chances of murder. But it is too early to conclude that Sanu was driving the car. It needs further investigation to prove it,” said a top officer.
Meanwhile, the police have formed a special investigation team (SIT), which will go to Tamil Nadu on Thursday. “We are moving on the right track as the CCTV visuals are a clear indication for us to reach the culprit(s). Since Sanu has huge financial liabilities, we are also probing the involvement of other persons,” said the officer, requesting anonymity.
According to the police, a cheating case was registered against Sanu in Pune where he had worked as an interior designer. “He had borrowed money from his neighbours. We are looking into his financial transactions,” the officer added.
As per the reports, Sanu dropped wife Remya at a relative’s home in Alappuzha on Sunday night. It is learnt that Sanu, along with his daughter, drove back to Kochi after telling their relatives that they were going to another relative’s house. The incident came to light when Vaiga’s uncle registered a missing complaint at the Thrikkakara police station on Monday morning after Remya failed to contact her husband since Sunday evening.
Worker jumps into river
Meanwhile, the fire and rescue team deployed a scuba wing to carry out search operations in the river at Manjummel, adjacent to the area where the police had spotted Vaiga’s body. “We got another information that a migrant worker had also jumped into the river. Though we searched for the person on Tuesday itself, we couldn’t find him,” said a fire and rescue officer.