Delhi horror: 5 accused were coming from party, playing loud music in car

According to the police, the five hit the 20-year-old victim, identified as Anjali alias Bhattu, on the 100-feet-road near Dharamveer Solanki Hospital. Her body was found seven kilometres away near Shani Bazar in Kanjhawala

The five men, who crushed a woman scooter rider in the early hours of Sunday and drove for almost seven kilometres dragging her body stuck under their car, have told the police that for almost 15-20 minutes they did not realise that the body was stuck under the bonnet, according to a police officer aware of the investigation.

The first distress call to the police was made by a passerby at 3.24am who informed the police about seeing a woman’s body being dragged under a speeding Maruti Baleno car. (HT Photo)

According to the police, the five hit the 20-year-old victim, identified as Anjali alias Bhattu, on the 100-feet-road near Dharamveer Solanki Hospital. Her body was found seven kilometres away near Shani Bazar in Kanjhawala.

The police have collected the blood samples of the five accused and have preserved them to check for alcohol volume. Police have booked them for causing death due to negligence. If the blood report confirms presence of alcohol, police are likely to book them under stricter Indian Penal Code(IPC) sections.

Investigation so far has revealed that one of the arrested accused, Deepak Khanna(26), had borrowed his friends’ Maruti Baleno car around 8pm. Khanna picked up his other friends, and the five left for Murthal, Haryana. The five had dinner at a road side dhaba and stayed there till midnight. Police suspect they drank liquor inside the car and left for Mangolpuri in Delhi, where many of them live.

“The five said the car’s windows were rolled up and they were playing loud music. When I asked them they must have felt an impact while driving when the body was stuck underneath, they said they thought the bumps were because of the bad road. Had they not been a little alert and sensitive, the woman would have survived,” said an investigating officer.

A second police officer aware of the case details said it was one of the most horrific accidents he had seen in his career. “The woman’s body was found on the road in Kanjhawala main road. The body had no clothes. There were injuries all over the body. Initially the police thought it was a case of sexual assault. There was no skin left on her abdomen since she was dragged for kilometers after the accident,” the officer said.

The first distress call to the police was made by a passerby at 3.24am who informed the police about seeing a woman’s body being dragged under a speeding Maruti Baleno car. While police from the Rohini district were probing this call, the control room received another call at 4.11 am about a woman’s body found on the Kanjhawala main road.

The investigating officer said, “Around 3.53am, the SHO of nearby Sultanpuri police station while patrolling had seen a scooter that had met with an accident. After the body was found following the call at 3.24am reporting a body stuck under the Baleno car, we connected the dots and confirmed that it is the same case. The caller has also seen the registration number of the Baleno car.”

On Sunday morning, police took details of the Baleno car and reached the owner’s house in Rohini. “The Baleno car was given as a dowry to another person. This person who took the car as dowry admitted that he owns the car but he has given it to his friend for a joy ride. This is how we traced the driver, Deepak Khanna,” he added.

Police said Khanna’s interrogation led police to the other accused --- Amit Khanna(25), who works with a credit card firm in Uttam Nagar, Krishan (27) who works at the Spanish Culture Centre in Connaught Place, Mithun Kumar(26), a hair dresser in Naraina, and Manoj Mittal(27) who works at a ration shop in Sultanpuri.