Kanker burning car mystery: Family of four spotted on CCTV footage, say police

Efforts are on to track the family's current whereabouts, the police said.

Kanker (Chhattisgarh):Days after a flaming car, with all its passengers missing, was spotted by a motorist near Chawadi village in the Charama tehsil of Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, the police on Saturday said they had accessed a CCTV footage confirming the presence of all four members of the family, who owned the car, at a resort. Significantly, they further noted that the footage was from approximately the same time frame when the 'mishap' was reported.

"It is possible that when the car caught fire, the family members were not inside the vehicle. This was previously noted by forensic experts, who had said there were no human remains inside the car," said Superintendent of Police Shalabh Sinha, who further added that cops were searching for the subsequent movement and current whereabouts of the family. "Further investigation is being carried out to trace where they went afterwards," he said.

The family members have been identified as Samiran Sikdar and Jaya Sikdar, and their children, Deep and Kritika Sikdar. On Friday, forensic examination results had identified the remains of the mobile phones belonging to the couple. Samples from the burnt car were subsequently transported to Raipur for forensic testing. A dog squad was also deployed at the spot.

Earlier, the police from the Charama Police station had identified the owners as residents of PV 42 village in Pakhanjur, also in Kanker district, who were returning home from Raipur after getting their children treated, when the purported incident took place. Further investigation into the case is on, the police further added.