Police give up custody of Dwarka doc couple

The case of a doctor couple locking up their 13-year-old maid in their Dwarka flat before leaving for a holiday in Thailand is taking a curious turn, as the police gave up their custody on Sunday, a day before the custody was to get over.

The case of a doctor couple locking up their 13-year-old maid in their Dwarka flat before leaving for a holiday in Thailand is taking a curious turn, as the police gave up their custody on Sunday, a day before the custody was to get over.

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Earlier, the police claimed that they needed to interrogate the couple at length to get to the source of the human trafficking racket, but produced the couple in the court on a Sunday.

"We have extracted enough information from the Vermas. We don't need to interrogate them further," said AK Ojha, additional commissioner of police (southwest district).

The couple, Sanjay and Sumita Verma, are now in judicial custody in Tihar jail and are free to apply for bail.

Sandeep Verma, Sanjay's elder brother, however, said, "Everyone is against us and it will not be a good idea to apply for bail now."

But Shakti Vahini, the NGO that helped the police rescue the maid from the locked up flat on March 29, is questioning the police's move.

"The urgency the police showed in producing the couple in the court on Sunday raises serious doubts. There are three more people, who are part of this racket and are still at large," said an NGO worker.

Shakti Vahini's lawyer, Ravi Kant, also complained that the NGO was not being kept in the loop about the developments in the case.

"As we are a party in the case and are also assisting the police, we should be informed about any legal development. We don't see it happening," he said.