Why CBI shunned Haren Pandya call data?

The most important evidence in the Haren Pandya murder case that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) neglected during its investigation is perhaps the call records of the slain leader’s mobile phone.

What is shocking is that CBI officials admitted that the call records which were obtained from the phone service provider were not submitted with the charge sheet and, later, were nowhere to be traced.

Even the Gujarat high court observed that the agency had made no attempt to investigate the call records. The court said that the agency had not even tried to find out the time since when Pandya had ceased answering or opening SMSes.

“The investigating officer had admitted that when he received the phone from Ellisbridge police station, it was not in a sealed condition. And as he did not find any significant calls, he did not even prepare a memo,” the court observed.

During trial, it was stated that Pandya used to have two phones but the CBI claimed it was unaware of this. It had only one phone, found at the murder spot. The CBI, however, had sought for the call records from the service provider.

The investigating officer of the case, Sushil Gupta, said that he had received Pandya’s call records on March 30, 2003. He also admitted that the they were not submitted in court with the charge sheet because he had not found anything significant to link the records with the murder.

He said the call records were handed over to the CBI. But subsequently the court was informed that despite attempts, the document related to the records was not traceable.