It's a shame for Nagpur, says Moghe

Guardian minister minister Shivajirao Moghe expressed grave concern over the fact that the broad-day-light murder of a city engineering college student Monica Kirnapure has remained unsolved even after two weeks.

"It's a matter of shame for people of Nagpur. I consider it as a failure of the people first than that of the police force that no one has come forward to help solve the murder case. The shocking incident took place in full public view. Assailants walked away after killing the victim, yet people who witnessed it all are not coming out to provide vital evidence," Moghe told TOI on Friday evening soon after meeting the Kirnapure family at Nagardhan near Ramtek.

"The only hope now is the police claim of having got two new clues which are being investigated thoroughly. I have been assured by home minister RR Patil in Mumbai this morning that the police are doing their best and are hopeful of cracking the case now," the guardian minister said. He had a brief meeting with city police commissioner Ankush Dhanvijay at Ravi Bhavan in which the CP apprised him of latest developments in the case.

The minister took time off from state legislature's budget session to visit the grieving family awaiting justice even as the police continued to grope in the dark. On March 11, Monica was stabbed to death by some unknown assailants as she was walking down to her Radhikabai Mulak engineering college in Nandavan locality from the nearby private girls' hostel.

"Like others before him, the guardian minister has also given us an assurance that justice will be delivered soon," said Dashrath Kirnapure, father of the victim. "But he has admitted the police failure and regretted that even two weeks after my daughter was brutally stabbed in day light, the culprits are yet to be brought to book," Kirnapure told TOI.

Moghe said that the city is a major educational hub and thousands of boys and girls from all over the country prefer Nagpur because of its peaceful environs. "I am worried that Monica case may dent city's image. I have instructed the police to expedite the probe. I also appeal to the people of the locality to co-operate in giving justice to Monica," the guardian minister said.