Shahjahanpur (UP), Jan 14 (PTI) A DNA report received nearly five years after a fatal blaze has turned a closed fire investigation into a murder probe.
Police here have booked three people for murder after
scientific testing confirmed that charred remains — originally dismissed by the police as animal remains — were those of an 18-year-old man.
The remains were recovered on the morning of December 20, 2020, from a shop in the Roza area where a fire had broken out the previous night.
At the time, police treated the remains as animal carcasses and disposed of them in a sack. However, a veterinary officer later examined the remains and confirmed they were human, prompting a post-mortem examination.
Police also recovered a metal bracelet and pieces of a belt from the spot. These items were later identified by the family of Abhishek (18), who had gone missing the same night. The family lodged a missing person’s complaint at the Ram Chandra Mission police station on February 21, 2021.
Superintendent of Police Rajesh Dwivedi told PTI on Wednesday that DNA samples of Abhishek Yadav’s parents were collected and sent for examination to verify the identity. “After repeated reminders, the DNA report was received on Tuesday, which confirmed that the burnt body matched the DNA of the parents,” he said.
According to a complaint lodged by the victim’s mother, Abhishek had gone to a hotel for dinner on December 19, 2020, where he allegedly had an altercation with Naeem, Raju and a pickup vehicle driver. The complaint alleged that the accused later locked Abhishek inside the shop and set it on fire, the officer said.
Following the DNA confirmation, a murder case has been registered against the three men. Efforts are on to trace and arrest the accused, Dwivedi added. PTI COR CDN AKY AKY
