Malda murders: Lens on accused’s use of deep web

MALDA: Forensic experts are being called by police to examine the electronic devices of Kaliachak youth Asif Mohammad, who was arrested on charges of killing four members of his family and hiding the bodies for four months.
“We have found a Tor browser in his computer to access the deep web. He might have had activities on the dark web as well. We are not ruling out his involvement in other criminal activities,” Malda police superintendent Alok Rajoria said on Monday.
Police are also probing if the huge quantity of arms recovered on Saturday was purchased through the dark web. Regarding Asif’s interest in cryptocurrency, Rajoria said: “Although we have not found any evidence of his bitcoin transactions, we are not discarding the possibility.”
Asif had drugged and drowned his parents, sister and grandmother on February 28 in his house at 16 Mile village following a property dispute and buried their bodies in the basement. His elder brother Arif, who was also drugged, managed to escape. Arif went to the cops on Friday, leading to Asif’s arrest on Saturday.
Police said ever since his arrest, 19-year-old Asif had been trying to mislead interrogators. “A boy of such age is unlikely to have such maturity,” said an officer. Only cracking his involvement in dark web may give some clues to the motive behind the murders, he added.
Police will reconstruct the crime scene soon, said another officer. Apart from post-mortem of the heavily decomposed bodies, viscera tests will also be done.
Cops are looking for the masons who had built a tunnel leading to the basement. The huge room used by Asif was equipped with electronic gadgets and at least 16 cameras were installed after the murders to monitor activities of outsiders.