KOCHI: In a startling development, the police team probing the gruesome murder of a 5-year-old girl in Aluva has found that the accused, Asafak Alam, was arrested and jailed in Delhi for molesting a minor girl in 2018. He had been absconding after jumping bail in the case.
The police team learnt this while analysing his fingerprints. Ernakulam rural police chief Vivek Kumar said Alam was involved in a case registered at the Ghazipur police station in Delhi for molesting a 10-year-old girl. “It came to our knowledge when we crosschecked Alam’s fingerprint with the database of the National Crime Records Bureau. The case against Alam in Delhi was registered under the Pocso Act. He was arrested and jailed for one month before being released on bail. He later absconded. The case is currently in the trial stage,” Vivek said.
The Ernakulam rural police will soon inform its Delhi counterpart about Alam’s arrest in the Aluva case. Police suspect that after being released on bail in the Delhi case, Alam might have travelled to other states before coming to Kerala a couple of years ago. He was reportedly involved in thefts in Kerala, but no case has been registered as there were no complainants.
Aluva murder: Probe moving on the right track, say police
The Kerala police have decided to collect more details about Alam from his native place in Bihar to check whether he was involved in similar cases there. Earlier, the police had contacted the Bihar police to check if there is any criminal case against Alam.
“We will send a team to New Delhi to get more information about the case pending against the accused. Also, a team will be sent to Bihar to check whether Alam was involved in similar cases there,” said Aluva DySP A Prasad.
Vivek said all material objects, including CCTV footage and other scientific evidence, are being collected. The collected scientific evidence was given to the agencies concerned for detailed analysis. “The entire evidence will be presented before the court. The investigation is moving in the right direction. We will try to file the chargesheet in the case as soon as possible,” Vivek said.
On July 28, Alam allegedly abducted the girl from her house at Choornikara near Aluva. After around a 20-hour search, the girl’s body was found in a marshy area near the Aluva market. The postmortem revealed that the girl was sexually assaulted. The accused later confessed to the crime.