THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a surprising turn of events in the sensational Jesna missing case, a prisoner lodged in Poojappura central prison has informed the CBI that a Pathanamthitta native, who earlier shared a prison cell with him in Kollam district jail, had claimed that he knew what happened to the 20-year-old girl, who reportedly left her home at Vechoochira in Pathanamthitta on March 22, 2018.
The man, accused in a Pocso case, had informed the CBI last November about a Pathanamthitta native who was arrested and remanded to Kollam district jail in a theft case. The information he shared was that of a discussion the duo had in a prison cell two years ago. When the talk breached the topic of Jesna missing case, the Pathanamthitta man remarked how he knew the girl and what had happened to her.
Following this tip-off, the CBI examined the prison details and ascertained that the Pathanamthitta native had indeed spent time in Kollam prison during the period mentioned by the Poojappura prison inmate. The address of the Pathanamthitta native provided by the Poojappura inmate also turned out to be true. The sources said the Pathanamthitta native has not returned to his native place in the past several months.
However, the CBI is yet to verify the veracity of the claims made by the Poojappura prison inmate.
Meanwhile, the CBI sleuths felt that the narrative about Jesna getting married and staying in another state or abroad could also not be verified. The assessment of some senior officers who probed the case earlier was that Jesna had gotten married and was settled with her family elsewhere.
Jesna Maria James went missing on March 22, 2018. She was last seen heading to her aunt’s house at Mundakayam in Kottayam. Though police had formed a special investigation team to probe the case, Jesna could not be traced. Jesna had been living with her brother and father after her mother, Sancy, died in 2017. On the day Jesna went missing, her father and brother were not at home.