Mangaluru : A CBI special court on Tuesday ordered further investigation into the sensational murder of Soujanya, a second year PU student of SDM College in Ujire near Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada district.

The trial in the murder case is in progress and as many as 12 witnesses have deposed before the court till now.

The 50th Additional Sessions Court (CBI special court) in November 2016 had summoned three persons, Mallik Jain, Uday Jain and Dheeraj Jain to appear before it to face trial in the case. The summons were issued based on the petition filed by Soujanya’s father Chandrappa Gouda, who had urged the court to consider the trio as accused, saying they were involved in the murder. The trio had moved the high court and obtained a stay on the summons.

The trial court had earlier observed that from the prosecution evidence, more than one person was involved in the crime and the prime accused Santhosh Rao alone could not have raped and murdered Soujanya.

Soujanya (17) was found murdered on October 10, 2012 near Dharmasthala. The state government had recommended a CBI investigation into the case.