No evidence of murder, rape in college girl’s case: Police probe

Senior superintendent of police Amneet Kondal says that a special investigation team is still investigating the matter and a chargesheet will be filed in the court soon

Two months after the body of a 19-year-old college student was retrieved from a canal near her hometown (Maur) in Bathinda, investigators say there is no clinching evidence to prove it was a murder or that the victim was subjected to sexual abuse. The police are yet to submit a chargesheet in the court. Officials familiar with the probe said on Tuesday that there were digital evidences that the victim boarded a private bus in Chandigarh after leaving her college hostel to reach Maur on March 9.

The body of the 19-year-old girl was fished out from a canal in Maur on March 12.

“The probe is almost complete and a special investigation team (SIT) is relying upon the chemical analysis that did not mention rape. The forensic probe has not found any injury mark on the body, ruling out that she may have struggled with any physical assault,” says an official requesting anonymity.

Sources said that main accused Mukul Mittal was in a relationship with the victim, who had been living in his neighbourhood. After reaching Maur, the victim and the accused moved around several places until late evening and they took photos on their mobile phones. Then they reached near the canal in which she fell under suspicious circumstances.

Sources said the forensic report mentioned drowning as the cause of death but officials say the SIT has not come across an eyewitness or material evidence to prove that she was thrown by Mukul or others into the canal.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amneet Kondal said that the SIT is still investigating the matter and a chargesheet will be filed in the court soon. On the complaint of the girl’s family, the police had arrested six persons — main accused Mukul Mittal, his father Ravi Mittal, mother Dimple Mittal, uncle Raj Kumar Mittal, Mukul’s friends Karan Bansal and Raghav Singla.

The accused were charged with murder, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy based on a complaint filed by the aggrieved family. Police sources said Mittals were residing in the neighbourhood of the victim and the two families had a good relationship.

Official sources said the family members of the main accused were aware of the girl’s drowning, but they concealed it from the victim’s parents. “Ravi Mittal and the victim’s father had gone together to a famous pilgrimage in Rajasthan. But Ravi did not alert even after his son informed him telephonically,” said the source.

The victim’s family stated that she went missing under mysterious circumstances on March 9 after her college hostel administration informed them that she had not returned to the hostel.

A team of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) recovered the body from the Kotla branch canal on March 12. The incident caused a widespread public uproar in Maur, prompting authorities to constitute two SITs.

Initially, deputy superintendent of police (rural) Hina Gupta was heading the SIT, but after a resentment by the aggrieved family and sympathisers, Bathinda superintendent of police (city) Narinder Singh was tasked with completing the probe.

SSP Kondal had suspended Maur station house officer (SHO) Manjit Singh for dereliction of duty. The SSP had stated that the police team had nabbed four accused on March 11, but Manjit failed to update the aggrieved family and agitated residents about the prompt police action on the complaint.