SIT collects mother's blood for Soujanya probe

MANGALURU A significant development has taken place in the Saujanya case of Belthangady taluk, which has been the subject of constant discussion for the past several years and has been alive with protests and struggles. The government has formed a new SIT team on the instructions of the Supreme Court to re-open the Saujanya case. Now the investigation has intensified and the SIT team has arrived in Belthangady. The blood sample of Saujanya's mother Kusumavathi has been collected in the Belthangady court itself. ASIT officials had arrived at the Belthangady court with all the preparations. It is being said that the blood samples may have been collected for DNA testing. Meanwhile, SIT officers Lokesh Jagalsar and ACP Manoj Kumar Naik have brought a printer and a laptop to the court in Belthangady court. The SIT is planning to obtain some important information including several documents in the presence of the judge. Due to the collection of Saujanya's mother's blood sample and the report of several previous samples, the SIT officials had called the Belthangady Government Hospital doctor to the court. Medical staff along with a blood sample kit had arrived in the court. A team comprising SIT chief Shashi Kumar, IPS officers Nisha James, Lokesh Jagalsar, Sudhir Kumar Reddy had recently arrived at the Mangaluru SIT office and examined several documents related to the Soujanya case. The reinvestigation of the Soujanya case was initiated at the initial stage to identify the loopholes in the previous investigation. Several documents, case diaries, charge sheets were examined to identify the loopholes in the Belthangady police, CID and CBI investigation. The original documents of DNA sample collection, transportation to the laboratory and testing were examined. Umbrellas, slippers, underwear and other personal belongings were searched and confiscated and compared. The statements of relatives and locals who last saw Sowjanya have been re-examined. At the same time, the information of eight potential witnesses mentioned in the Supreme Court has been examined. The post-mortem examination, doctor's statements, details of injuries, estimated time of death and original medical records were compared. The SIT team also noted discrepancies in witness statements. The SIT team had said that it examined several documents, including discrepancies in court evidence and subsequent statements, and re-examining available documents about individuals previously named by the victim's family.