A DNA report has confirmed the identity of skeletal remains recovered from an abandoned property in Ahmedabad’s Vatva area, reopening a 34-year-old suspected murder case.
Image Source: X
Vatva Murder Case: A long-pending mystery from Gujarat has finally moved closer to resolution. In a shocking development, a DNA report has confirmed the identity of human remains found in Ahmedabad’s Vatva area, linking them to a woman who went missing more than three decades ago. The confirmation has pushed the Crime Branch to begin formal steps to register an FIR. This is a major breakthrough in a 34-year-old suspected murder case.
Crime officials say the latest forensic result has given the investigation a new direction after years of silence and uncertainty.
Advertisement
The Vatva murder case resurfaced last month when Crime Branch and forensic teams carried out an excavation at an abandoned property near Qutub Nagar in Vatva. During the search, investigators recovered skeletal remains hidden deep inside what appeared to be either a septic tank or an unused well.
Advertisement
The remains included bone fragments, teeth, and strands of hair, all buried under layers of earth and waste. Police said the discovery was made after they received specific inputs connected to a woman’s disappearance in 1992.
Forensic experts later confirmed that the remains were highly decomposed and calcified due to the passage of time, which initially made identification difficult.
According to investigators, the remains belong to a woman identified as Farzana, who was also known by another name, Shabnam. Police say she originally lived in Dholka and later moved to Ahmedabad after her first marriage ended in failure.
After shifting to the city, she reportedly married a man named Shamshuddin Khedawala, who is now the prime accused in the case. Investigators believe her life took a tragic turn after this second marriage.
Officials say repeated disputes between the couple became a central point in the investigation.
Police sources suggest that Farzana was allegedly strangled inside the house where she lived with her husband. After her death, investigators believe her body was secretly buried inside an unused underground structure within the property, likely a septic tank or abandoned well.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Bharat Patel had earlier said that the husband, his brother, and several others were suspected to be involved in the crime.
However, officials also noted that some of the accused may have died over the years, complicating the legal trail.
Family links, DNA samples, and emotional triggers in case revival
After recovering the remains, investigators traced Farzana’s brother, who is currently based in Mumbai. DNA samples from family members were collected and sent for forensics.
Interestingly, the case regained attention after unusual claims surfaced from members of accused family. They reportedly spoke about experiencing recurring hallucinations and fear linked to the woman’s death.
Crime Branch officials, including Deputy Commissioner of Police Ajit Rajian, noted that the family appeared to be under intense psychological pressure, allegedly experiencing repeated apparitions of the deceased woman.
Crime Branch steps toward FIR as accused status remains unclear
Speaking to IANS, DCP Ajit Rajian confirmed the key development. He said that the DNA report has now established a positive match in the Vatva murder case. He added that the process of registering an FIR is currently underway.
In another surprising twist, investigators believe they may have traced the prime accused, Shamshuddin Khedawala, alive on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. This comes despite earlier assumptions that he had died years ago.
Advertisement
