Kolhapur: Police on Monday took murder accused Sripad Vadar to the cliff near Bhudargad’s Naikwadi waterfall, where 23-year-old engineering student Tarrannum Naik was allegedly pushed to her death. Police wanted to recreate the sequence of events from the moment Vadar picked Naik up in Gargoti until he returned alone hours later.
Vadar allegedly claimed she had gone to fetch water and had gone missing, adding that he would alert her relatives and help look for her,” a police officer said. The accused has also given a confession, which police have recorded on video, an officer said. The reconstruction was carried out on the first day of Vadar’s five-day police custody as investigators sought to verify his account and plug gaps in the case. Vadar appeared at a local police station the following day, after which the search for Naik began and her body was recovered from the gorge. Police questioned the accused in detail about how he contacted the woman, persuaded her to accompany him, and took her to the isolated cliff near the seasonal waterfall. On his return, one witness asked him where the woman was. Police are recording statements of the witnesses.
Police have also collected CCTV footage from along the 50km route, showing both travelling together on a motorcycle on Friday, and Vadar returning alone later that day.
“A few witnesses saw the accused and the victim heading towards the jungle and found it unusual, as hardly anyone had visited the area in recent weeks.