Since he took over last May, Police Commissioner Kuldip Sharma has stressed on the detection of various crimes as a way to check and minimise offences. And, to this end, directed the Detection of Crime Branch to reopen files of five murders committed in 1997. These cases had been closed as unresolved, after primary interrogation and after seeking court permission.

The case so far resolved involves the murder of 25-year-old Farooq alias Bangi Nizamuddin Beg, whose body -- bearing stab wounds on the neck -- was found in a sack adjoining the Ranoli Shakti Petrol Pump on NH-8 on April 4, 1997.

DCB sleuths had started the investigation of the case when Rafique alias Gai, a resident of Fatehgunj, who was wanted in several cases of robbery and theft, was brought to the city after his arrest in Mumbai. As Farooq also had a criminal record and had served terms under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, sleuths questioned Rafique on possible links with the victim.

On interrogation, Rafique told the investigators that both had been in Baroda Central Jail at the same time, but for different offences and were reportedly not on good terms with each other. Farooq was discharged from jail after being acquitted by the court. Rafique told the DCB that he killed Farooq while out on bail.

Other unresolved cases under fresh investigation include:
The killing of armed police constable Raman Bhikhabhai Parmar on April 1, 1997. The incident came to light after his body was recovered from near Bala Pir Dargah on NH-8 on April 3, 1997; the case was dumped in cold storage in September 1997.

The murder of Kaushalya Devi Hotchand, resident of Neelkanth Society in Bajwa, in which ornaments worth Rs. 60,000 were also looted on June 23, 1997. Case was closed in October 1997.

The recovery of a charred, unidefied woman's body from the bed of the Vishwamitri on May 13, 1997.

The murder of Rasang Viba Solanki, a resident of Kutch, whose body was found on the roof of a goods-laden truck near Chhayapuri Railway Station on August 23, 1997. The case was closed in December the same year.

DCB inspector R A Munshi said that he had begun investigations on the corpus delicti theory of French criminologist Lecardo, who theorised that the most importasnt step in investigating murder cases was to begin with the area where the body was found.