Nagpur: A gruesome unnatural sexual assault and murder of an elderly woman in her Sixties, was cracked within 10 days by effectively deploying the state-of-the-art AI technology — MARVEL or Maharashtra Research and Vigilance for Enhanced Law Enforcement to reconstruct the faces of the victim and accused.The woman’s semi-nude, decomposed body was found on June 28 by Nagpur rural police at a farmland in Patansaongi in Saoner police limits. Sources said, the assailant had inserted his hand from the rear and taken out a portion of the intestines with forensic experts flagging the forcible insertion as cause of shock that triggered death. The accused, Sudhakar Mandpe, a repeat offender with a history of crimes against women, was arrested on Monday.Initially, a case of accidental death was registered, but after the autopsy report, a rape-and-murder FIR was lodged at Saoner police station.A crucial breakthrough came from scientific examination of chip packet wrappers found at the scene, analysis of online transaction records of local vendors, examination of around 52,000 telecom data trajectories and mappings, questioning at least 90 local workers and residents and visits to a nearby brick kiln and farmhouse. Also, data pertaining to 15,000 vehicles from the Regional Transport Department was analysed. “The chip dealer told cops that he supplied the packets at a few shops on Dahegaon-Khaparkheda road. That was the first clue,” said senior SP, Nagpur rural, Harssh A Poddar, adding the probe presented formidable challenges as the victim had no immediate identification, eyewitnesses, or direct leads.Since the woman’s face was decomposed, the MARVEL’s photo enhancement and face reconstruction technology was used to generate a clear image. Missing persons data from Nagpur city and rural areas, Amravati region, and Madhya Pradesh districts were analysed. “The reconstructed face was circulated in the social media. A Koradi-based social worker claimed to have spotted the woman on Khaparkheda- Dahegaon and had sent her photo to his Saoner counterparts,” said Poddar.Simultaneously, teams scrutinized footage from 500 CCTV cameras in the vicinity. “A footage from a travels office at Dahegaon had caught the assailant with cap and scarf stalking the victim. The footage helped,” said Poddar.MARVEL AI’s photo enhancement technology reconstructed the suspect’s face and body, achieving approximately 85% similarity, said Poddar. “Some labourers identified him as a man who stayed with daughter at Bokhara in Nagpur city,” said Poddar. “We had picked him up from Bokhara,” he said.A team under Poddar and additional superintendent of police, Anil Mhaske, was formed involving officers from local crime branch, Saoner police, Kelvad police and cyber police station. MARVEL AI played a pivotal role from the outset, said investigation officer SDPO Sagar Kharde.