Date:21/12/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/12/21/stories/2005122124820400.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

DNA test helps police solve murder case

Staff Reporter

Identity of the victim is yet to be established

Murder was committed on Ramzan day
Accused persons found unconscious close to the scene of crime

Armed with DNA test result, police quiz suspects who confess to the crime

HYDERABAD: Bloodstains of the victim found on the clothes of accused persons helped the Goshamahal police solve the murder case of an unidentified person with the arrest of two persons on Tuesday.

"But the victim is yet to be identified," West Zone DCP Amit Garg told a press conference here.

An unidentified man, in his mid thirties, was found dead on the roadside near Jali Hanuman in Mangalhat on Ramzan day. His head was smashed with a boulder and a cut injury was also

found on the throat.

First clue

The first clue came when a police patrol team found two persons - Mohd. Hameed, 22, autorickshaw driver, and Syed Saber, 22, labourer -- lying unconscious a few yards away from the scene of crime. The duo feigned ignorance when asked about the murder though bloodstains were found on their clothes.

A few strands of hair were also seized from the spot. Detectives sent the bloodstained clothes of the two suspects and the strands of hair to the forensic laboratory. After conducting DNA tests of the hair and blood samples, forensic experts confirmed that blood found on the clothes of the two suspects was that of the victim.

The strands of hair collected from the scene belonged to the suspects, they declared. "Based on this we interrogated the accused persons again who admitted to the murder," Mr. Garg said.