Kochi: In a setback to the sensational ‘Smitha missing’ case in which a Kochi native went missing from Dubai in 2005, it has been revealed that the prime witness and suspect Devayani died of poisoning last month in Ahmedabad where the CBI sleuths had taken her for a lie detection test. Devayani died on July 9 after undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit of a private hospital for two weeks. An autopsy report indicated poisoning as the cause of the death.
Smitha George, daughter of George, a resident of Changampuzha road at Edappally, had gone missing from Dubai on September 3, 2005. Devayani, a key witness in the case, earlier told the Crime Branch that she had witnessed a fierce altercation between Smitha and her husband, Sabu Antony, on the day she went missing as she was also there in the couple’s apartment in Dubai. Based on the complaint by the parents of the missing woman, the Crime Branch had arrested Antony. The case was later handed over to the CBI.
The CBI team had left for Ahmedabad with Devayani and Antony from here on June 14 to subject them to a brain- fingerprinting test in connection with the case. On arrival there on June 16, Devayani was admitted to a hospital after she complained of chest pain, sources said. The sleuths were taking the duo to the Raksha Shakti University (RSU) in Ahmedabad for the brain fingerprinting test.
Meanwhile, sources said the CBI suspect her to have consumed poisonous substance during the train journey. “Soon after her death, the CBI contacted Shamsudeen Karunagappilly, cousel of Smitha’s family, and informed about her death,” they said. Antony married Smitha in May 2005 after which the couple left for Dubai.
In September that year, Smitha’s husband allegedly rang up her parents and told them their daughter was missing and faxed them a letter he claimed was written by Smitha. The letter, which claimed the woman had eloped with another person, had turned out to be fake. The Dubai police had also launched a probe into the case.
