Ranchi, April 16 (IANS) The Jharkhand High Court has taken a strong view of the pace of the investigation into the disappearance of an 18-year-old girl student from the state’s Bokaro district, while ordering a DNA test of the skeletal remains, which the police claim to have recovered.

A division bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Sanjay Prasad, while hearing the petition on Thursday, directed that the DNA examination of the recovered skeleton be conducted at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Kolkata. To ensure transparency in the investigation, the court also ordered that the post-mortem of the skeleton be conducted at RIMS in Ranchi instead of Jamshedpur.

During the hearing, the Jharkhand DGP, Bokaro SP, Director of the Forensic Science Laboratory, and members of the newly constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) appeared in person before the court.

Expressing displeasure over the slow pace of the probe, the court directed the Solicitor General to ensure that samples of the recovered skeleton and those of the victim’s parents are collected and sent to Kolkata for examination within the next 48 hours. The state government has been asked to submit a progress report on the investigation within two weeks.

During the proceedings, the DGP assured the court that the case would be concluded at the earliest. The government informed the court that 18 police personnel from the police station concerned have already been suspended on charges of dereliction of duty.

The court, however, made strong oral observations, stating that action against lower-level personnel alone is not sufficient and accountability must also be fixed for senior authorities.

The case of the alleged kidnapping of the student. Pushpa Kumari Mahto, registered in August 2025, saw police inaction for several months. It was only after the victim’s mother, Rekha Devi, filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court that the police machinery became active. Accused Dinesh Kumar Mahto was subsequently arrested, and police recovered a skeleton on the information he furnished.

Counsel for the petitioner, Vincent Rohit Marky, expressed apprehension that the recovered skeleton may not be that of Pushpa Kumari Mahto. The DNA report will now determine whether the recovered remains belong to the missing girl or not.

–IANS

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