THE TAHUROA MYSTERY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23516, 2 June 1938, Page 12

THE TAHUROA MYSTERY

DISAPPEARANCE OF HINDU MURDER THEORY SUPPORTED SUIT OF CLOTHES FOUND DIFFICULTIES OF INVESTIGATION (Speciat- to Daily Times) AUCKLAND, June 1. There is no doubt now that the 42-year-old Indian, Dalu Desai, who disappeared on May 7 from the lonely Maori settlement of Tahuroa on the southern side of Kawhia Harbour, was murdered. The discovery by a young Maori of a suit of Desai’s clothes “buried in a shallow drift of sand not more than a mile from the store in which the murdered man worked, added to certain facts, which may not be disclosed, has been the first definite clue to stimulate the police in the search for his body. It has been openly said that there could be no question that Desai did not die of his own hand, and there is information to show that the authorities possess evidence strengthening the view that he met with a violent death. There had been a suggestion that Desai might have taken his own life, but recent developments indicate a complete lack of motive for his doing so. The township of Kawhia is agog with matters of fact concerning the dead man as well as with conjecture upon the possible cause of his death, but a number of Maoris who were questioned to-day could say only this, that. Desai or “ Jimmy,” as he was known to them, was well liked. The Maoris trusted him. and they believe he was murdered. Up to now, detectives and uniformed men have been unlucky with their dragging equipment, and the work of probing Lake Tahuroa, a reed-choked area of 1000 acres or thereabouts, has to some extent been thwarted through the inability of the comparatively lowpowered outboard motors to' haul the drags. By to-morrow evening the position will be altered, as the Commissioner of Police (Mr D. J. Cummings) has requisitioned two of the most powerful motors to be found In New Zealand, and they will arrive at Tahuroa late to-morrow morning or in the early afternoon. In all probability, the Commissioner of Police will leave Hamilton at the same time as the motors are despatched. the early stages, the major problem was divided more or less into two parts—the superstitious fear of 100 or more Maoris who, with the exception of the school teacher and his wife, form the entire population of the settlement, and the circumstance that at least half the Natives are unable, to speak English. For a while the police were unable to make much headway in the collection of evidence which might prove valuable in the early discovery of Desai’s body, or, at least, indicate who was the past person to see him alive. At length some educated Maoris were discovered in the settlement, and the work of interviewing became much easier. Previously, it was found necessary to have from six to 12 interviews with one man or woman, but the subsequent presence of the interpreters save the police a great deal of time. The police have done a great deal towards allaying the fears of the Natives, who now readily proffer information which a few days ago their superstition seemed to bar them from imparting. It is upon this new material that the police are basing a fresh plan of investigation.