A death trial had to be halted after a monkey ran off with the evidence.
It snatched a packet containing 15 objects...including the alleged murder knife.
At a pre-trial court hearing in Jaipur, northern India, police had to admit that since the stabbing they had lost the evidence and were unable to retrieve it. Bizarrely, it had been left under a tree as there was no room to store it at the police station.
And the constable responsible for looking after it had been suspended, retired and then died.
The police’s embarrassing confession came in a written note to the court after they had been ordered to produce the evidence to be used in the case.
It involves Shashikant Sharma, found dead near a Jaipur police station in Jaipur in 2016. Two men were later charged. The public prosecutor reacted angrily to the police blunder, calling the excuse “unusual”.
The court also expressed its frustration.
A letter has been sent to the Jaipur’s rural police superintendent asking him to clarify the events and explain how a monkey was able to steal the evidence.
