Man held in Kolhapur student's death as police examine phone records

A court placed 25-year-old Sripad Vadar in police custody for five days after the death of engineering student Tarrannum Naik in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district, police reports published on Oct. 12 said.

The body of the 23-year-old student from Gargoti was recovered from a valley below Naikwadi waterfall. Police arrested Vadar on suspicion of murder after finding inconsistencies in his account of what had happened.

Sub-divisional police officer Vivek Patil told the Times of India that messages exchanged by the couple did not support Vadar's claim that they had agreed to die together. Police seized both phones for forensic examination.

Investigators were awaiting postmortem findings to clarify the circumstances of the fall. The reports describe an alleged murder and an ongoing investigation, rather than a finding of guilt. Residents marched to the police station on Sunday seeking a fast-track trial.