'Police are absolutely clueless about the case'
On the eve of the most harrowing fortnight of their lives, Shobhit Modi's aggrieved family finally broke its silence on Wednesday.
On the eve of the most harrowing fortnight of their lives, Shobhit Modi's aggrieved family finally broke its silence on Wednesday.
Even as police investigations into the murder of the second-year IT engineering student on the night of May 5 entered its second week, the Modi household thinks investigators are going a tad bit 'soft' on the suspects.
"We are given new assurances on a daily basis; almost each day the police claim to have gotten their hands on and to be investigating a new lead. But it has amounted to nothing. The real anathema is that they've gone too soft in questioning the suspects," said a family source, requesting anonymity.
Speaking to Hindustan Times at their residence in block C 6, Vasant Kunj, the Modi family said the investigators seemed "absolutely clueless" in spite of piling claims of having left no stone unturned.
The family's apprehensions are not without reason. Two weeks after the formation of eight specially constituted teams, technical assistance from the elite Crime Branch as well as questioning of at least 200 suspects, the police are not only clueless about the identity but even the motive of the crime.
"If the police are so sure about someone from his friend circle being involved, something they've been saying since the incident, then why don't they put them through a more rigorous questioning procedure?" the source asked.
The Modi family is also dissatisfied with the police's apparent inability in rounding up the three musclemen, allegedly hired by his girlfriend's father, who threatened him with dire consequences at his college in November.
Explaining that he was 'lazy' when it came to walking, the family also discredited the police's theory that Shobhit had decided to walk down to his house from DLF Promenade Mall, which he visited at least thrice a week.
Deputy commissioner of police (South) Chhaya Sharma said, "Many suspects are students, some of whom have their exams and are already under duress. We are investigating the case from the point of view of scientific evidence, which can be proved in a court of law. The Delhi Police has, traditionally, relied on sound and reasonable methods of investigation and not on barbaric torture."
Breaking his silence for the first time since his son staggered home with four stab wounds, Shobhit's father Suraj Modi told HT, "All we can say is that we want justice." Modi said he would meet Police Commissioner BK Gupta to request speeding up the investigation.