K'para Police Intensifies Probe, Foul-Play Angle Not Ruled Out

EVEN as the tragic death of the 20-year-old college girl continued to generate political heat, Kendrapara police on Friday maintained that it has not ruled out the angle of foul-play in the sensitive case.

- ASHIS SENAPATI/ASISH MEHTA @Kendrapara/Bhubaneswar

Police pressed a forensic medicine and toxicology (FMT) doctors' team at the victim's house under Pattamundai rural police limits.

The victim's father had claimed that the girl had set herself ablaze due to a blackmail threat from her boyfriend.

Sources said though prima facie it appeared to be a case of suicide, a detailed spot verification and available circumstantial evidence did not completely rule out foul play. "The victim did not sustain serious burn injuries and a small quantity of the inflammable substance was found on the spot," sources added.

Police are also awaiting her autopsy report to ascertain whether her burn injuries were ante-mortem or post-mortem in nature.