Indian Newslink: Media speculation hinders murder probe

Media speculation hinders murder probe
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Venkat Raman on 29/03/2010 12:32:00
 
The Auckland District Police are concerned that media speculation on the
identity of a man wanted in the murder of taxi-driver Hiren Mohini could hinder
the progress of their investigation.
Auckland City Police Communications Manager Noreen Hegarty said the media has
been publishing speculative reports on the identity of a man seen in the
close-circuit television footage released in February.
The case has been code-named Operation Edgewater.
“The Auckland District Court issued an arrest warrant on February 26 for the
man seen in the footage but for operational reasons it was determined that any
publicity of that fact, the man’s name or other identifiers would have
adversely affected Police attempts to locate him.
“Subsequent publicity in the media prompted the Operation Edgewater team to
seek a suppression order that prohibits publication of any information in the
warrant, the warrant application and affidavit that may identify that person, so
that the investigation can be progressed as efficiently as possible,” she
said.
Thirty-nine- year-old Mohini was killed after a frenzied knife attack in his
taxi  as he travelled from Federal Street in the city at about 110 am on January
31, to View  Road in Mt Eden where he was found by residents after his car
crashed at about 120 am.
Hundreds of people including members of the Indian and other communities,
taxi-drivers, Government officials and others attended his funeral, held on
February 4 at the Waikumete Crematorium.
The suspect is believed to be slim, dark skinned and about 1.74 metres (5’
8”) tall.
In releasing the photograph of the man taken from the CCTV footage in the
Central Business District, Detective Sergeant Hywel Jones said the suspect was
wearing a distinctive knitted dark cap with a large white logo outlined with
three circles.
“He was also carrying a distinctive bag with the ‘Dicon Aibi’ logo. The
cap, found a day after the murder in Mt Eden with the blood-stained tubular
shaped blue bag on a private property, has been undergoing forensic
examination,” he said.
But he warned that media reports which suggested a name and former place of work
of that person are now technically in breach of the suppression order granted by
the Auckland District Court on March 1.
“At the time when the information was presented at the Auckland District Court
for the arrest warrant to be issued, there was no operational need to publicise
such a fact.
“Our overall objective is to locate, arrest and bring the accused before the
Court and to that end we are working with the appropriate local and
international agencies and authorities,” he said.