Headless body: Cop probe takes tech route

Kolkata: The trial of murdered criminal-cum-police informer Hazrat Laskar (29) at a Barasat Court last week saw the prosecution turn to advanced forensic technology — one of the first such instances in India — to establish technically that the victim's wife indeed made a video call to Laskar minutes before the murder, when she found the victim accompanied by the accused.The state prosecution, led by special public prosecutor Bivas Chatterjee, said they wanted to use additional evidence in the murder case in which the body was recovered on Jan 31 last year. "His wife saw the two assailants during the video call. But we wanted to go beyond oral evidence. Hence, we studied the Internet Protocol Detail Records (IPDR) of both the victim and his wife, and WhatsApp details, and a cyber-forensic expert's analysis testified in court in this regard last Friday. IPDR provides a ‘who, when, and where' of internet usage, similar to how Call Detail Records (CDR) track phone calls. In other words, the source IP of the victim's wife and the destination IP of the victim matched. Port analysis also confirmed it was a WhatsApp video call," said Chatterjee.
IPDR are structured logs created by ISPs and telecom operators that record metadata about a user's internet activity. Unlike content, IPDR captures session details — source and destination IP addresses, ports, timestamps, and data volume — to track which apps, websites, and services were accessed. It is crucial for digital forensics, network management, and law enforcement.Police in North 24 Parganas recovered the severed head of Laskar, 29, 16 days after his half-burnt, and mutilated body was found in a paddy field at Choto Jagulia under Duttapukur Police Station limits, investigators said in the charge sheet.The main accused, Obaidullah Gazi alias Jalil, led officers to the spot during interrogation. The body was wrapped in plastic and concealed in the marshy area. Police alleged Laskar maintained a relationship with the wife of his cousin, Gazi, even after her marriage to the cousin. The affair, police said, escalated tensions within the family and became the immediate trigger for the attack.Gazi was arrested along with his wife, Puja Das, shortly after the body was recovered. A third accused, Sophia Khatun, was arrested later. Investigators are also examining Laskar's recent role as a police informer. Laskar was a former criminal who "reformed" and assisted officers in identifying and arresting suspects in the area. That cooperation, police said, created friction with Gazi, who is alleged to have remained involved in criminal activity.