Teen’s murder: forensic teams gather evidence from crime spot

The VP Road police along with forensic officials collected samples from the spot where 13-year-old Aditya Ranka’s kidnappers murdered him, 10km from Panvel.

The VP Road police along with forensic officials collected samples from the spot where 13-year-old Aditya Ranka’s kidnappers murdered him, 10km from Panvel. The officials said they had also scanned CCTV footages, which show Brajesh Sanghvi and Ranka in a car.

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The police said the forensic evidence would help in building the case. “Camera footages of some spots in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai show Ranka and Sanghvi seated in the Honda City car. The footages are of those places where Sanghvi took Ranka before murdering him. Ranka is seen talking with Sanghvi as he knew the latter well and never anticipated any attack,” said an officer from VP Road police station.

The police said they were still questioning the duo as investigators found it difficult to believe that a person with no past crime record could stab a minor and set him on fire. They are also recording statements of persons from places Sanghvi went to.

The detailed autopsy report of Ranka stated he died of bleeding from a severe head injury. The victim was dead when he was set on fire, police said.

Ranka’s semi-charred remains were found near the Mumbai-Pune expressway on Tuesday. The police arrested Himanshu Ranka (victim’s cousin) and his friend Sanghvi, who allegedly kidnapped Ranka for ransom to cover betting losses.