Guwahati: Investigators are digging up three graves in the Sribhumi district of Assam. They hope to solve the 2011 disappearance of Ashish Som, a schoolteacher from Agartala. A court ordered the exhumations after the cold case saw a recent breakthrough. Police now suspect Som was killed after his family failed to pay a 25 lakh rupee ransom demand.
The search centers on an area near Sonbeel. Police buried three unidentified bodies there nearly 15 years ago. Officials currently cannot tell which grave holds Som. They must dig up all three to be certain. A team from the Tripura Police has already arrived in Sribhumi to oversee the work. They will collect DNA samples from the remains for forensic comparison.
The samples will head to a lab to be matched against biological material from Som's relatives in Agartala. "The identity of the bodies and whether any of them is linked to the missing teacher will become clear only after the DNA test results are received," according to investigators on the scene. Until the lab reports return, the fate of the teacher remains a mystery.
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