Monica's parents return to murder spot, appeal for help in probe

NAGPUR: After cops, college mates and aware citizens, it was the turn of Monica Kirnapure's parents to hit the street and request residents to help the probe by providing clues. On Monday, they were in Shree Nagar locality of Nandanvan where the 23-year-old collegian was brutally murdered on March 11.
The inconsolable parents Dashrath and Vandana even symbolically performed a ritual at the spot where their elder daughter Monica, a 3{+r}{+d} year electronics student, was stabbed around 10 times by unidentified assailants.Monica's younger sister Trupti too participated in the ritual.
Shiv Sena MLA Ashish Jaiswal from Ramtek, who accompanied the parents, also appealed to the local citizens to cooperate. Jaiswal was also present at Ravi Bhavan where minister of state Rajendra Mulak met the aggrieved parents. The Kirnapure family hailed from Ramtek and Monica was a student of the Smt Rajshree Mulak Engineering College for Women in the city.
The minister, whose family manages the educational institution, has promised support. Known to be close to Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, Mulak's move to meet the parents more than 10 days after the incident raised eyebrows.
City police chief Ankush Dhanvijay, who is personally supervising the case, too was present when the Kirnapures met Mulak. Though the police has not made any apparent headway, Dashrath expressed satisfaction over the investigations. He also thanked the college management for standing by his family.
The Kirnapures also visited Maharashtra Navanirman Sena city vice president Umesh Avthankar at his Nandanvan residence. Avathankar had rushed a profusely bleeding Monica to hospital, picking her up from the spot where she was lying in a pool of blood.
Dhanvijay later returned to the spot late on Monday evening, appealing to the local citizens through the public address system to come forward and extend help. Dhanvijay had also been going out to meet informers who having been calling him up with information.
"I am driving out even at odd hours to meet informers trying to get clues. As of now, 40 officers have been put on the job. I have promised to shield the informer or whoever gives us a clue. We will not use him or her as witness and not take him on record too. If need be, we would provide protection for that person too," said Dhanvijay.
Meanwhile, Nandanvan police station's senior inspector Murlidhar Burade was shunted out after the weeklong probe yielded nothing. PI Sunil Jaiswal, who had been the in-charge of police headquarters, has replaced Burade. The city police has been cornered by opposition MLAs during the ongoing assembly session in Mumbai.
The different arms of the city police have questioned several youths from different backgrounds. Call details of Monica have been procured and the cops are trying to find a clue in the calling pattern.