DNA testing tied missing Manassas Park mother Mamta Kafle Bhatt to blood found on a handheld power saw, according to recently filed prosecution documents.
An Oct. 29 report from Virginia’s Department of Forensic Science indicates blood found on parts of a reciprocating saw matched a DNA profile created from Mamta Kafle Bhatt’s hairbrush.
Kafle Bhatt, a Manassas Park mother, has been missing since July.
Earlier this month, Naresh Bhatt, 37, was indicted by a Prince William County grand jury on the charges of murder and physically defiling a dead body. Bhatt was charged in August with concealing the body of his 28-year-old wife, whose body still hasn’t been found.
This week, prosecutors filed four certificate of analysis reports from the Commonwealth’s Department of Forensic Science, which provides insight to evidence police believe they have in the case against a defendant.
According to the report, stained swab samples from a reciprocating saw’s bottom vent and the interior ridge of the saw’s handle, matched a “DNA mixture profile” from Mamta Kafle Bhatt’s hairbrush.
Compared to the DNA found on the hairbrush, the DNA analysis says the likelihood of the DNA on the power saw belonging to anyone other than Kafle Bhatt is 1 in greater than 8 billion.
Buccal swabs taken from inside the cheek of Naresh Bhatt, as well as the couple’s young daughter, were submitted. Naresh Bhatt and the daughter were excluded as possible contributors to the DNA swab from the saw.
A reciprocating saw is a handheld power tool with a blade that moves back and forth, commonly used to cut drywall and wood.
Other items submitted for testing were swabs from bloody garbage can. Police and prosecutors have suggested Kafle Bhatt was killed and dismembered in the home, and prosecutors have outlined evidence of a cleanup.
Also submitted to the crime lab was a piece of carpet with blood on it that prosecutors said was Mamta’s. While DNA doesn’t rule out Mamta and her daughter as contributors, “No conclusions can be made regarding Naresh Bhatt as a possible contributor to this DNA mixture profile.”
Prosecutors said they have video of Bhatt dropping several plastic and trash bags into a dumpster after dropping the couple’s child off with a babysitter on July 30.
Later that evening, according to Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Sarah Sami, Naresh Bhatt purchased a “40-pack of extra strong black trash bags.” The heavy-duty trash bags were in addition to a set of knives he bought earlier in the day after shopping at Home Depot and Walmart.
On July 31, at 1:30 a.m., Naresh Bhatt was also caught on video retrieving bags from his Tesla and putting them into a trash compactor, according to investigators.
Bhatt’s trial for murder, physically defiling a dead body, and concealing a dead body is scheduled to begin in Sept. 2025.