Mumbai railway cops had quizzed Sanap many times and let him off

The sensational murder case of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) software engineer Esther Anuhya, which took two months to be cracked, would have been solved a few days after the incident had the railway police been alert, claim the Mumbai police. The prime suspect was called to the railway police station on various occasions but was not arrested because the railway police did not find anything incriminating against him.

According to sources in the Mumbai police, the suspect, Chandrabhan Sanap, was called to the railway police station for two hours almost everyday after the incident. "We did not arrest Chandrabhan Sanap because the photograph collected from CCTV footage did not match with him at that time," said a police officer serving in the Government Railway Police (GRP).

"When he was detained in Nashik for questioning two weeks ago, he had a long beard. To confirm it, we asked his neighbours in Nashik where he is staying with his wife. The neighbours told us that he had long beard for the past several months," said the officer. This is where they got diverted because the photograph collected from CCTV footage, the man was seen clean shaven, the officer added.

Interestingly, even the AC attendant of LTT-Vishakapatnam Train (in which Esther arrived) did not identify Sanap as the man seen walking along with Esther in the CCTV footage.

The railway police interrogated Sanap in the interval of two days each for the past two weeks. "Sanap used to visit the GRP office in Mumbai for questioning whenever called," said the officer.

Now it has become a major embarrassment for the railway police since the Mumbai police have claimed to have solved the Esther murder case with the arrest of Sanap.