With less than a week left for Gujarat to submit its final report to the Supreme Court on the November, 2005 fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and the murder of his wife Kausar Bi days later, the chief investigator brought back by the Gujarat government says they have been unable to find Kausar Bi’s remains at the spot where her body was said to have been disposed off 17 months ago.

After extensive digging by the CID (Crime) in the area around the Illol house of arrested DIG D G Vanjhara — one of the three IPS officers taken into custody, he headed the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) which killed Sheikh and allegedly burnt Kausar Bi after her murder — IG CID (Crime) Geeta Johri told The Indian Express that the Gandhinagar-based Directorate of Forensic Science did not find a single piece of bone or any trace of ash in earth samples brought from a well where Kausar Bi’s remains were said to have been dumped.

“We dug the well to its original depth... almost to the point where digging was no more possible... and collected several soil samples. But forensic tests have drawn a blank,” Johri said.

The CID was told that the well near Vanjhara’s house was filled up after the murder and a small room hastily constructed over it.

The case of Kausar Bi’s killing hinged on finding some shred of evidence in the well or in Vanjhara’s house. “After such a long time, it was just a matter of luck that we would find something in that well. Now we are searching all over again without any specific reference,” Johri said.

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