New Delhi: A court here remanded the police custody of the five accused in the Kanjhwala case for four days. Metropolitan Magistrate Sanya Dalal was hearing the matter, during which the investigating officer said their further custody was required as police needed to establish the nearly 13-km-long route the accused had taken to traverse in two hours on the fateful night when the victim woman had got entangled under the vehicle after being hit.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police Special CP Sagar Preet Hooda on Thursday revealed that two more people have emerged as suspects in the Kanjhawala incident. Speaking at a press conference in the national capital, he also said that one of the accused Deepak Singh was not driving the car, as was informed before.
"Two more persons are involved apart from the five that police have in custody. We have scientific evidence. They tried to shield the people who committed the gruesome crime," Hooda said, adding that the men are identified as Ashutosh, the owner of the car, and Ankush, the brother of one of the accused. Both of them are absconding while the police are on a look out for them, he added.
"We have arrested five accused so far. During interrogation, we found that two more people are involved in the incident. Our team is conducting raids to nab them," he said. According to the CP, the pair also attempted to tamper with the evidence as they tried to help the accused.
He further highlighted that the time sequence of incidents that unfolded on January 1 are not adding up. "The CCTV footage found from different places are not falling into a sequence as per the sketched timeline. As the investigation progresses, we may resort to lie detector test and narco test of the accused to get the truth out," Hooda said.
He added that during the investigation being carried out by a total of 18 teams of Delhi Police, it was found that Amit was driving the car, even though Deepak was named as the driver during the initial investigation. Hooda also said that the Delhi police will demand the matter to be taken up in fast-track court for early disposal. The police will file a charge sheet in this matter as soon as possible, the Delhi Special CP informed.
Speaking about Nidhi, who emerged as the only eyewitness as she was riding pillion with the victim on the night of accident, Hooda said that her statement has been recorded and so far, no link has been found between the eye witness and the accused.
He further said they have traced an exchange of about 25-30 calls between the victim Anjali and her 'friend' Nidhi between December 29 and 31. "Whether or not they were friends is their personal matter," he said, adding that the police have not yet been able to find the mobile phone of the victim.
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When questioned about the inefficiency of the police in responding to the calls alerting them about the accident Hooda said that an internal inquiry to verify whether it was a human or procedural error has been set up. "Appropriate action will be taken after the inquiry report is out," he said.
Nidhi's statements have been slated as an attempt of 'victim blaming' wherein she alleged that Anjali was drunk on the night of accident, even as the post-mortem reports have not mentioned anything of the sort. Anjali's family too has ridiculed Nidhi's statements.
"I don't know Nidhi. I have never seen her. Anjali never used to drink. She never came home in an inebriated state. We don't buy what is Nidhi claiming," Anjali's mother told the media on Wednesday. Her uncle has meanwhile claimed Nidhi's claims to be a conspiracy. "Nidhi stayed hidden until after Anjali's last rites. Did she not have the basic humanity to report it to the police or family? This is Nidhi's conspiracy," Anjali's maternal uncle said.
Nidhi's family has meanwhile vouched for Nidhi and her statements. "She was very nervous when she reached home(on January 1). She told me that some people have run a car over her friend, they tried to do the same with her but she ran away. The allegations deceased's mother is putting against my daughter are untrue," Nidhi's mother said on Thursday.
The 20-year-old Anjali was killed in the early hours on January 1 after her two-wheeler was hit by a car and she was dragged for 13 kilometers under the vehicle in outer Delhi's Sultanpuri. The Sultanpuri police station has registered an FIR against Deepak Khanna (26), Amit Khanna (25), Krishan (27), Mithun (26) and Manoj Mittal for various offences under the Indian Penal Code, including criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, causing death by negligence and rash driving on public way.
