The company reportedly did not furnish the details in time claiming that an in house inspection was on, which the police believed delayed their investigation and probably aided the accused in getting away. Sources said that senior authorities in Gandhinagar had been intimated and they were now awaiting further instructions to pursue the issue legally.

Anand Superintendent of Police (SP) Gagandeep Gambhir said, “The investigating officer had sent the (mobile service) company a request for mobile phone records of Dholia, the prime accused in the case, but they refused to oblige, stating an inspection was on.” The SP added that the company furnished the records when threatened with legal action after four days.

Gambhir did not intend to pay much attention to this delay at the moment, and said, “Currently, the investigation is more important. Such matters can be followed up later. We have reported the matter to the Range Inspector-General,” Gambhir said.

Anand Local Crime Branch (LCB) inspector M C Patel also said that the investigation was seriously hampered due to this non-cooperation. “We cannot divulge certain details at the moment, but these mobile records are very important and need to be used immediately. It was only after I personally went to their office that they gave the records,” Patel said. The case relates to the murder of two brothers, Iqbal and Nazir Rathod, whose bodies were recovered from the Narmada Canal in Kapadvanj. The brothers had gone missing after leaving Anand for Ahmedabad on January 19 with a friend Dholia.