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Ahmedabad Murder Case Cracked After 34 Years: DNA Identifies Remains and Arrests
The Ahmedabad City Crime Branch solved a murder case that had remained buried for 34 years. Skeletal remains were found in an 18-foot-deep Vatva pit and DNA testing identified the victim as Farzana Dosubhai Radhanpuri, missing since 1992. Arrests were made and charges filed as investigators linked the crime to a domestic dispute within the family.
Why It Matters
The case demonstrates the role of DNA profiling in solving long-cold crimes and shows how hidden cases can surface through non-traditional channels within a family.
Timeline
3 Events
May 9, 2026 – Arrests and charges in the 1992 murder case
May 9, 2026
Police arrested Shamshuddin Musaji Khedawala (61) and Iqbal Musaji Khedawala (63). Two other accused, Abdul Karim Yakubji Javarawala and Shaliyabibi Samudkhan Pathan, have also been named. Investigators allege that Shamshuddin, with family involvement, conspired to murder Farzana after prolonged domestic disputes and buried her body inside the property to destroy evidence. The accused have been charged under IPC sections 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence), and 120B (criminal conspiracy). Further investigation is underway.
May 9, 2026 – DNA profiling confirms victim's identity as Farzana Dosubhai Radhanpuri
May 9, 2026
Subsequent DNA profiling by the Forensic Science Laboratory confirmed that the remains belonged to Farzana Dosubhai Radhanpuri, who had been missing since 1992.
April 29, 2026 – Excavation uncovers skeletal remains at Vatva cesspool
April 29, 2026
The Ahmedabad City Crime Branch, after a police tip-off about a Kutubnagar, Sayyedwadi property, and under the supervision of an Executive Magistrate and officials from the Forensic Science Laboratory, carried out an excavation at a cesspool on the property. At a depth of nearly 18 feet, human skeletal remains were recovered and sent to the Forensic Medicine Department at BJ Medical College for examination. According to investigators, the decades-old secret surfaced not through a traditional investigation but through the psychological unraveling of the perpetrators' family. The family reportedly felt guilt and terror, claimed to be haunted by the victim's 'ghost', and sought occult practices to exorcise the past; during these attempts, details of the 1992 crime were whispered to outsiders and eventually reached the Ahmedabad City Crime Branch, ending 34 years of silence.