Twenty-one sightings on CCTV, a purported video of the young UPSC aspirant stripping naked before setting off on his alleged 51-kilometre walk, and a missing set of clothes – the Gujarat government’s latest report in the death of Rajkumar Jaat has added new twist to a case the central mysteries of which remain unresolved.And could the 23-year-old have walked a distance of 51 km alone in 11 hours and 29 minutes to reach the point where his body was eventually found after he was allegedly crushed by a heavy vehicle?These questions appeared in sharp focus before the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday (August 25) as the state placed on record a fresh report on the investigation in the case.On July 28 this year, the High Court had directed a closer examination of the circumstances in which Jaat was found walking naked on a highway in the hours before his death.Justice M R Mengdey recorded in an oral order on Tuesday that Public Prosecutor Hardik Dave had produced the further report in the case.Jaat, a UPSC aspirant from Gondal in Rajkot district, had gone missing on March 2, 2025. His body was recovered on March 9 near an overbridge at Targadhia on the Rajkot-Ahmedabad highway – about 51 km from the spot he was last seen.Story continues below this adIt was believed that Jaat had been run over and killed by a bus on the highway, and police registered a case treating the death as a road accident.Jaat’s father, Ratanlal Jaat, however, approached the High Court asking for an investigation by the CBI into his son’s death.Ratanlal Jaat alleged that Rajkumar Jaat had been murdered, and that police had failed to properly investigate the role of the suspects that the family had named – including Jayrajsinh Jadeja, a two-time BJP MLA from Gondal, and his son Ganesh Gondal.He took off his clothes. Was he under the influence of a drug?Story continues below this adIn its submissions on Tuesday, the state sought to reconstruct Jaat’s movements after the court asked how he came to be walking naked.Dave played a purported video recovered during the investigation that allegedly showed Jaat removing his inner clothes before beginning his purported walk. The state submitted that investigators had found “several videos of the deceased on his own mobile phone in which he was seen in a similar condition and exhibiting similar behaviour”.These videos, the state told the court, were “referred to an expert [in psychoanalysis] for an opinion on whether Jaat’s behavioural pattern could indicate that he was under the influence of an intoxicating substance”.However, it conceded that investigators had not been able to establish whether Jaat had consumed any intoxicant and, if so, where. The state said the expert opinion was sought on the basis of Jaat’s conduct that was visible in the videos.Story continues below this ad51 km in 11 hours and 29 mins: Could he have done it?The state also sought to address the other major question raised by the court: whether it was physically possible for Jaat to have travelled a distance of 51 km on the highway.According to the state, investigators had recovered CCTV footage from 21 different locations between the two points on the route, in which Jaat was seen walking alone. The bits of footage were sent for forensic examination, the prosecution submitted.Relying on an expert’s general assessment, the state submitted that “a healthy adult without significant physical limitations could ordinarily walk at approximately four kilometres an hour – or cover a kilometre in around 15 minutes.”Story continues below this adIf Jaat did indeed walk the purported 51 km in 11 hours and 29 minutes, he would have to be going at around 4.4 km an hour. This is a brisk walking pace, but which most individuals will likely find difficult to keep up for so long.Prosecutor Dave acknowledged in court that the assessment “was a general estimate and not a definitive calculation for any particular individual”.However, the state submitted that “On the basis of the estimated walking speed, a person could theoretically travel approximately 64 km during that period (11 hours and 29 minutes). It was therefore not inherently improbable.”.Jaat allegedly stripped naked. What happened to his clothes?Counsel for petitioner, responding to the oral submissions, turned the focus on what has become one of the most conspicuous gaps in the reconstruction of the alleged events of that day – Jaat’s missing clothes.Story continues below this adCounsel submitted that Jaat had left home “wearing blue jeans and a light-blue shirt”, and that “Those clothes have never been recovered.”Senior Advocate Asim Pandya said: “The (purported) video shown to the court shows him (Jaat) already in his (innerwear) before he removes that as well… The question, therefore, is what happened to the clothes he was originally wearing. We also have photographs that suggest he may have been called by someone in a car… The vehicle could have been involved in the offence.”Pandya also pointed out that Jaat’s mobile phone had been allegedly left at home on the day of the incident, and that the instrument had been found by investigators.Questioning the state’s submission about the possibility of intoxication, Pandya said, “If he was not carrying his phone, the theory that he independently contacted someone to obtain ganja or another intoxicant also required closer scrutiny… The CCTV video and other details appeared to have emerged only after the High Court began raising specific queries about the investigation…”Story continues below this adSo what then is the upshot? Here’s a recall of the facts.The case has been marked by competing versions of what happened during Jaat’s final hours. The High Court will take up the matter again on September 24.The state has maintained that it has examined technical evidence, witness statements, and other aspects, and also obtained the narco analysis of Ganesh Gondal. But it has also informed the court that the result “was not favourable to the prosecution”.According to the case before the High Court, Jaat went missing in the early hours of March 2, 2025, after allegedly visiting the residence of persons named by his family in connection with the case.Story continues below this adHis father approached Gondal police on March 5, alleging that his son was missing and expressing suspicion over the circumstances of his disappearance.Four days later, on March 9, Jaat’s body was found near the Targadhia overbridge on the Rajkot-Ahmedabad highway.The Kuvadava Road police subsequently registered an FIR under provisions relating to causing death by negligence, endangering life and rash driving, along with provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, after investigators alleged that he had been run over by a luxury bus.His father, however, has consistently maintained that his son was murdered, and he later moved the Gujarat High Court seeking transfer of the investigation to the CBI.