Twenty months after Rajni Bala, 36, went missing on January 16, 2018 and her husband Manmohan Kumar was arrested for the crime, Kumar’s polygraph test — conducted in May this year — reports has increased suspicion on him, said police.
Last year in December, the forensic science laboratory (FSL) at Madhuban, Karnal, Haryana had given another date for the polygraph test as it was cancelled in April, 2018. The police are yet to trace Rajni’s body and the investigation was relying on Kumar’s lie-detection test, which reportedly came out to be doubtful.
“Accused’s polygraph test report has increased suspicion on him. Now, we will go for brain mapping test,” said Panchkula police commissioner Saurabh Singh.
Earlier, this month the Panchkula police had submitted the test reports in a local court.
“We have sent an application to FSL at Gandhinagar, Gujarat, to seek a date for the brain mapping test,” he said. The FSL based in Gandhinagar has been approached as the forensic lab at Madhuban has only polygraph test facility.
What happened
Rajni was allegedly murdered by Kumar’s paramour at his behest. Kumar, a practising lawyer at the Panchkula district court, was booked and arrested for his wife’s murder on January 27, last year. It was allegedly the confession of Kumar’s paramour Monika that brought the crime to the fore. Her brother-in-law Sandeep was also arrested.
Investigating officer (IO), assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Gulab Singh, said, “The lie detection test was not done in April, last year, after the accused’s counsel failed to show up.” However, the counsel had then claimed that he was not given any prior intimation. “Kumar’s answers as per the parameter of the test were doubtful,” said the ASI.
Kumar had given a written consent for the test on February 12, 2018.
Police had sought for Kumar’s tests after being unable trace Rajni’s body. Also, Kumar was misguiding the cops by claiming that the body had been dumped in Morni or Himachal Pradesh, the police had said.
Know about the test
A polygraph or a lie detector test, is a procedure to record physiological indicators like blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked to answer a series of questions.