‘Murder charge may be invoked against Sultanpuri accused’: Police

The 20-year-old victim, identified as Anjali Kumari, was allegedly hit by the car on Shani Bazar Road in Sultanpuri, when she was returning home on a scooter with a friend.

The Delhi Police may invoke charges of murder against the five accused in the Sultanpuri accident case who allegedly dragged a 20-year-old woman under their car for several kilometres, senior police officers associated with the case investigation said on Tuesday.

People escort Anjali Kumar’s funeral procession to the cremation ground at Budh Vihar in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

“The accused may be booked under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (culpable homicide amounting to murder) as they crushed and dragged the victim for at least 14 kilometres with malafide intention,” a senior investigator who asked not to be named said.

The 20-year-old victim, identified as Anjali Kumari, was allegedly hit by the car on Shani Bazar Road in Sultanpuri, when she was returning home on a scooter with a friend. While the police recovered the damaged scooter on Shani Bazar Road in Sultanpuri, her body was found nearly 14 kilometres away in Jaunti village, near Kanjhawala.Five men identified as Amit Khanna, 25, Deepak Khanna, 26, Mithun, 26, Krishan, 27, and Manoj Mittal, 27, were arrested early on Sunday morning in connection with the case.

“Prima facie, it appears that they (the victims) were not known to the accused. But dragging somebody’s body for nearly two hours by car is enough to prove their ‘mens rea’ (bad intention). By any yardstick, one can’t believe that the accused remained unaware of the body stuck underneath their car for such a long time. As a result of these consequences, the police have all the reasons to charge the accused under section 302 of the IPC,” the investigator said.

Sagar Preet Hooda, special commissioner of police (law and order, zone-2), said on Tuesday that they have recorded the statement of Nidhi (goes by single name), who was riding pillion on Anjali’s scooter when the accident took place, before a city magistrate under section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code. “She cooperated with the police in the investigation. As we have now got an eyewitness of the incident, it will help the police in ensuring strictest punishment to the accused. In a CCTV footage, Nidhi can be seen accompanying the victim, just before the incident. She, however, didn’t sustain any injury,” Hooda said.

He added that the medical board which conducted the post-mortem examination on victim’s body has submitted its initial findings, and has ruled out sexual assault. “The medical board at the Maulana Azad Medical College mentioned that there were no injury marks on the victim’s private parts. The report cites shock and haemorrhage as a result of ante-mortem injury to the head, spine, left femur, both lower limbs. All injuries produced by blunt force impact and possible with vehicular accident and dragging, the report says. The final report will be received in due course,” the special commissioner said.

He further said that the outer district police have got over 400 video clips of CCTV footage from different parts of the 14-kilometre stretch, on the the victim was allegedly dragged under a car. “In the CCTV footage, it has been observed in nearly 25 instances that the car was being driven slowly on the left side of the road, leaving enough space for other vehicles to take over,” Hooda said.

“They also avoided police pickets on the stretch between Kanjhawala and Aman Vihar, and kept roaming in the area and took three turns on that stretch,” he added.

The senior investigator quoted above said that the attempt to “hide evidence” will lead to addition of charges under section 302. Currently, the five accused are booked under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

He added that call detail records of the victim and her friends are also being scrutinised.