Chemical attack victim’s phone recovered

Though Jerrit G John tried to eliminate all evidence that could implicate him of  throwing chemical at his estranged girlfriend Aryanka Hosbetkar, a 26-year-old physiotherapist, the police claim to have recovered her mobile phone.

“We recovered the phone that John had snatched from Aryanka after an argument before the incident last week. All the messages on the phone do not seem to have been deleted. We  hope to get important leads in terms of evidence,” said Dhananjay Kulkarni, deputy commissioner of police (zone 5).

A friend of Aryanka had earlier claimed that the only reason why John had taken the phone was that it contained threatening messages that he had allegedly sent to the Worli resident after she decided to end the relationship.

John, 46, who owns a production house, is married and has a son.    

In a related development, the police have recovered John’s specially modified vehicle, which he had abandoned in Mira Road. The police also took John to the shop from where he had bought the chemical.

 “The shop was shut, but we have got the name of the shopkeeper. John had bought a chemical, which is  used to develop pictures. However, we are yet to know which chemical it exactly was. We are still recording statements in the case,” said Kulkarni.