Hyderabad: Forensics, at the crime scene, does more than just solving crimes, as it now saves lives too. The sensational Vikram Goud case, which received much attention for its shrouded mysteries and twists at the time, had big life saving help from the CLUES team of Hyderabad. While it was reported that Goud was shot only the right arm and stomach, he was actually shot in both arms and had the bullet further lodged in his torso.
Vikram Goud, son of former Minister M. Mukesh Goud, claimed to have been shot by a group of men. Confused cops went into a frenzy, checking CCTV footage and interviewing family members to gain a plausible crime angle to what looked like self-inflicted wounds.
Vikram remained indisposed and writhing in pain at the time, unable to give a statement as he was being treated for his wounds. With no substantial victim statement and no leads from the CCTV cameras, police were at their wit’s end and unable to solve the mystery.
The CLUES team at the location, unable to examine the extent of injuries on Vikram’s body, were left to find forensic evidence from just Vikram’s shirt and evidence collected from the crime scene itself. Dr Venkanna, HOD, Hyderabad CLUES team, said, “ Upon examination of the shirt, the CLUES team was able to detect that Vikram had been shot in both left and right arms. The bullets passed through and through; however, only one bullet was found at the crime scene, creating an apprehension of where the other bullet was. On further examination of the shirt, the team was able to detect another hole in the torso area. The team notified the medics at the hospital to reexamine Vikram. An X- ray showed another bullet was lodged in the side of the torso”.
While the CLUES team was able to show the possibility of self infliction after studying bullet ballistics, it was the identification of the bullet inside Vikram’s body that lead to his recovery. The team was not only able to solve the mystery behind the shooting but also able to aid the medics in making a discovery of a possible life threatening foreign object in Goud’s body.
The CLUES team was also instrumental in nabbing the notorious inter state dacoit gang that had committed a robbery in Charminar earlier this year. The gang had been committing robberies in two states but was finally caught red-handed by the Telangana police. The gang, including the kingpin, was involved in 40 cases.
When the team came across the knife used in the offences, they were intrigued to find that it was wrapped in a newspaper which was not a local one. The sleuths carefully reconstructed the paper using the vague pieces found at the crime scene. Notifying the police that the gang might be natives of another state, caused the police to trace mobile signals.
