Crime Branch scours lake bed for Mishel Shaji's bag, mobile

Kochi: The Crime Branch on Monday tried to recover the mobile phone of CA student Mishel Shaji,  18,  who  committed suicide  in the Kochi backwaters on March 5. A team of private diving experts, sourced by the Crime Branch,  searched the  Kochi backwaters beneath the second Goshree bridge  at  9.30 a.m. However, the day-long  search failed to yield any result and the exercise may  continue  for  another day.

Mishel  is  suspected to have jumped off from the  bridge late on March 5. Earlier,  the  police had claimed that she was put to immense mental torture by Cronin Alexander, 26,  a Piravom native who was in a relationship with her for some time. The  youth was arrested on abetment to suicide charges and is currently under Crime Branch custody. However, the youth  claimed innocence saying the differences between them were due to a misunderstanding. The Crime Branch sleuths are yet to get any solid evidence on what transpired between them on the day when Cronin called her several times and sent  numerous messages.

“The probe is now based on the statement given by the victim’s friends against the accused. However, we need solid evidence. We suspect him to have deleted the messages. We’ve sent his mobile for forensic inspection. We also hope to recover Mishel’s mobile phone which could help us to find what transpired between the two on that day or whether there was there any other reason,” sources said.