Flies on suspect's clothes help police crack murder case in MP's Jabalpur

Jabalpur: The flies stuck on the clothes worn by a 19-year-old suspect have led the police to solve a murder case in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district, officials said on Tuesday.

The suspect, identified as Dharam Thakur, has been arrested for allegedly killing his uncle Manoj Thakur alias Mannu (26) after a dispute over money, Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sonali Dubey told reporters on Monday.

The victim left home on October 30 morning for work but did not return till night. The body was found lying at an agriculture field in Deori Tapria village on October 31, she said.

Dubey said the accused was the last person spotted with the victim at a market in the Chargawan area.

The accused, who was present in the crowd at the murder scene, had reddened eyes and some marks were visible on his chest, Chargawan police station in-charge Abhishek Pyasi told PTI on Tuesday.

"While questioning regarding the person's whereabouts, I spotted that flies kept sticking to some of his clothes, which led to a suspicion about blood stains. Since he was wearing dark clothes, the blood stains were not visible," he said.

The official said he got the clothes of the accused examined by a forensic team present at the spot and it was ascertained that there were blood stains on them.

The accused initially claimed innocence but later admitted to the crime, he said.

The forensic lab team also found some blood stains on small pieces of wood lying close to the body, Dubey said.

After questioning the accused, it came to light that he had accompanied his uncle and the CCTV footage of the area also corroborated the same, she said.

The investigation indicated the accused was last spotted with the deceased in a market at Chargawan where they purchased liquor and chicken, she said.

They later had a dispute over the contribution of money spent on those items, she said.

The accused allegedly hit the victim with an object having nails on it and ran away. The victim suffered grievous injuries and died, the official said.

Following the accused's questioning, the police also recovered the murder weapon, she said.