RANCHI, April 16 -- Jharkhand high court on Wednesday took a stern stand against the state's investigative machinery regarding the case of an 18-yr-old girl from Bokaro, Pushpa Mahto, missing for nine months. Expressing deep dissatisfaction over the "sluggish" pace of the probe, the court directed state DGP Tadasha Mishra, Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) director Himashu Mohan, Bokaro SP Harvinder Singh and the entire Special Investigation Team (SIT) to appear personally before the bench on Thursday (April 16) at 10:30 AM. The direction came after advocate Vincent Marki, representing the petitioner, raised serious doubts about the police's recovery of a skeleton. He pointed out that the skeleton was found in an open area based on an accused's statement, but its physical state did not match the timeline of the disappearance of the girl. An advocate close to the matter said the order came during the hearing of a habeas corpus petition filed by girl's mother Rekha Devi. "The court's ire was triggered by the revelation that despite recovering a skeleton claimed to be the victim's, the police had failed to conduct a DNA test during the past four days," the advocate said. Advocate Vincent Marki said,"I pointed out that the skeleton was found in an open area based on an accused's statement, but its physical state did not match the timeline of the disappearance. My submission was that the body was not buried; it was found behind bushes. It appears two to three years old, not nine months. I raised doubt over the body being that of the missing girl. The bench was particularly incensed to learn that not only was the DNA testing of the remains pending, but the police had not even collected sample swabs from the mother for matching. Labelling this a 'grave lapse' in investigation, the HC summoned the top brass to explain the delay and the lack of scientific verification in a case involving a missing citizen," Marki said. Police claimed to have recovered the skeletal remains of Pushpa on April 11. Dinesh Kumar Mahto was arrested in this connection. He confessed to the crime revealing that he had planned it due to "mental distress" caused by the girl's persistence in getting married. He admitted that on July 21 last year he met the girl while she was at Chas College for graduate admission. Under the pretext of talking, he lured her to a secluded, bushy area in Madhutand forest, approximately 1.5 km behind the college campus and stabbed her to death there. He said he hid her body in the bushes, and discarded the blood-stained knife along the road as he returned home....