Meanwhile police said Junu Murmu, an Adivasi girl who hails from Baganpara, a village hardly two km from Anandapur, the village where Ram’s decomposed body was found, could probably provide the key to Ram’s abduction and killing.

“This girl, who claims to be an adopted daughter, wasn’t at home (at Baganpara village) on June 26 and 27,” said the official.

The police are now investigating this angle, especially after the five ULFA cadres arrested from village Murkuchiapara (adjacent to Anandapur) admitted that Murmu had introduced them to Ram to help them get some FCI contracts. Though belated, the police are now trying to ascertain whether Ram had known his abductors for some time before they actually took him away.