New lead in Mangaluru techie Prabha Shetty's murder in Oz

Melbourne, Feb 23: Investigators have uncovered a fresh lead in the murder of a 41-year-old Indian woman IT professional in Australia last year that indicates someone in India may have played a role in the killing.

Prabha Shetty who was sent to Australia on a 3-year deputation by MindTree, was stabbed to death by an unidentified assailant while walking towards her home in Sydney in March.

Over 2,000 people have been questioned and almost 250 statements have been recorded as part of the probe into the killing, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Someone in India may be involved in stabbing of a 41-year-old Indian woman to death, an IT professional in Sydney last year, Australian police has said after quizzing over 2,000 people in connection with the mysterious murder.

Police had several persons of interest in their sights over the killing of the mother, as they attempt to piece together who stabbed the IT worker after she got off the train at Parramatta on March 7 last year.

One of the lines of inquiry is that someone known to Kumar, and living in India, was involved in her death.

“We have considered the possibility that an offender had (helped commit or been involved with) this crime outside Australia”, Detective Sergeant Ritchie Sim told Fairfax Media.

While detectives weigh the theory that someone in a country 10,000 kilometres away had a hand in her death, they are confident that Kumar did not know the person who actually stabbed her.

“We are considering the possibility that the offender is still in Australia as well the possibility that the offender has left Australia”, he said.

Every resident in the Parramatta park area, where the incident took place were at home that night have spoken, the area has been canvassed as many as four times. Murder weapon has not yet been discovered.

Kumar, who was speaking to her India-based husband on the phone while walking down a dimly lit path in a Paramatta park, was barely 300 metres away from her home in western Sydney when she was “suddenly” approached by someone and fatally stabbed in the neck.

Over the past one year, investigators' probe has spanned both countries.

A native of Nandagokula in Amtoor near Kalladka in Bantwal taluk near Mangaluru, Prabha Shetty was the daughter of Mahabala Shetty. She has three brothers and two sisters. After graduation, Prabha joined Softlinks, an IT firm which Mindtree acquired later. Prabha had settled in Bengaluru after marrying Arun Kumar.