Thiruvananthapuram: The challenge before the Crime Branch, that has taken over the probe into the death of the young film director Nayana Surya, is that the team would have to retrace the incidents from six years ago to shed light on the case.
Nayana was found dead at the house at Althara on February 23, 2019. Much of the scientific evidence has been lost. The probe should be expanded to include Nayana's friends and circumstances. Her brother and friends had told the team, that investigated the case for the second time, that Nayana had the habit of writing a diary. But there was no diary among the items collected by the police then.
The Crime Branch will take back all the items and check again. All those who had travelled with Nayana and closely interacted with her from 2017 would have to be traced. The only scientific evidence collected by the police then are the phones and laptops of five people. These would have to be taken back and checked if the data from then can be retrieved.
The door to the ground floor of the two-storeyed building was locked, but the police did not allegedly consider that there were other doors to reach the room where Nayana was staying. As it had been Nayana's birthday, certain other friends had come over to celebrate. But as she did not open the door, they got the key from the landlord, opened the house and then broke open the door to Nayana's room, according to the police. But the police do not mention finding the house key that had been in Nayana’s possession.
Felt suspicious, visited crime scene: former police surgeon
Retired police surgeon Dr K Sasikala has said that she visited the crime scene as she felt suspicious about Nayana's death while conducting the post-mortem.
"Had informed the police then itself about the wounds and possibilities that raise suspicions about murder. Only when the news reports came after four years, I realised that several things I had said were not recorded in the police statement," Dr Sasikala told 'Manorama'.
"I wrote the report and prepared the certificate on the very day the post-mortem was conducted. And also informed the police about my findings. The police said that Nayana was found dead in a room that had been locked from inside. As a surgeon, it is not possible for me to not talk about far-fetched possibilities such as death by self-strangulation or accidental death while seeking relief through self-harm,” she explained.
