Cops: Events narrated by the witnesses have discrepancies

Mumbai: Three days after the body of 20-year-old Atharva Shinde was found lying near a lake, the police is yet to nab the culprits, as all the youngsters present at the party were intoxicated. The police is yet to piece together the sequence of events that led to his murder, as the accounts of events narrated by the witnesses have discrepancies. The police has sought details of the call data records of his friends, and others who attended the party.

According to the police sources, the probe into the murder of EOW officer Narendra Shinde’s son Atharva is taking a slow pace as the only lead that could come is from these witnesses/party attenders, and as they were intoxicated under the influence of alcohol and drugs (weed), their statements cannot be relied upon. The police also said that four persons who had attended the party have still not reported to the police and recorded their statements. “To get hold of the missing members of the party, the police have sought information from the others who have recorded the statement, and accordingly three teams have been made to look out for them,” said a police officer requesting anonymity.

When asked Vinay Kumar Rathod, deputy commissioner of police (Zone 12) about any recent developments in the case, he said, “The investigation is underway, and soon the culprits will be behind bars. However it is too soon to comment anything further.”

Atharva, a student of a Pune-based college where he was studying sound engineering, had come to the city to attend a friend's birthday party. He left his Thakur Complex residence on Monday afternoon to go to the party venue at Royal Palms in Aarey Colony. On Monday night, Atharva had dropped a message to his father saying that since it was very late, he will be returning the next morning, only to never return. When Atharva did not come home on Tuesday, his family began searching for him, and found his body near a lake on Wednesday morning at 10.30 am.