2 years after grisly Kanjhawala killing, case falters pivotal witness dithers

Two years post Anjali Singh's death, key witness Nidhi remains absent in court, complicating the trial of seven accused in the hit-and-drag case.

Two years after 21-year-old Anjali Singh was killed after being hit by a car and dragged under it for almost 13km on New Year’s Day, the trial in the sensational case appears to have run into trouble after the prosecution’s key witness did not show up in court over a span of 15 months, three summons and a bailable warrant.

Scene outside the residence of Kanjhawala accident victim Anjali Singh at Mangol Puri, in New Delhi. (Sanjeev Verma/HT)

The witness, 23-year-old Nidhi, the victim’s friend who was identified only by her first name in court and police records, and who was riding pillion at the time of the incident – forms the pivot of the charge sheet filed by the police on April 2023 that named seven people as responsible for the grisly death.

But despite a warrant -- filed in January this year-- and three summons from the Rohini court since December 2023, she has not shown up, said officers aware of the matter.

”She is a key witness as others don’t even know the entire sequence of events...Her statement could be very crucial, but she has not appeared yet. Multiple summons and now a warrant has been issued against her,” said a police officer aware of the developments.

“If she continues to ignore warrants, we will have to push for a non-bailable warrant and produce her,” the officer added, requesting anonymity.

HT tried to reach out to Nidhi and her family, but they were not at their residence in Sultanpuri. Their phone numbers were not reachable. When HT visited her house, neighbours said that the family moved out around six months ago.

The officer quoted above said after the court summons, they finally traced Nidhi but are unsure whether she will show up in court. “We finally traced her and she told us she was pregnant and delivered last year. We don’t know more about this. We asked her to appear for the next date of hearing (April) and she has told us she will come if her health is better. We will see what court says...” said the officer.

Sachin Sharma, deputy commissioner of police (outer), confirmed that the police know about Nidhi’s location now, and that she told them she was pregnant.

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Anjali, who worked as an usher at an events company, was on her way home in a two-wheeler with Nidhi when her vehicle was allegedly hit by a grey Baleno early on January 1, 2023. Police said that she fell off the scooter, came under the car, and was dragged for at least 13km, from Sultanpuri to Kanjhawala. Her lifeless body was found in a dimly lit street in Kanjhawala.

The incident triggered nationwide outcry, prompting the Union home minister’s office to order the Delhi Police chief for a “detailed inquiry” into the case.

Delhi Police arrested seven people. Four of them were allegedly in the car at the time of the incident and were identified as Amit Khanna (25), Mithun Kumar (26), Krishan Kumar (27) and Manoj Mittal (27); they were charged with murder, rash driving, destruction of evidence, and criminal conspiracy. Deepak Khanna (28), Ankush Khanna (30) and Ashutosh Bhardwaj (27) were charged with criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence, and harbouring offenders.

Six of the seven are now out on bail. Only Amit Khanna, who was allegedly the driver of the car, is behind bars. Trial in the case began on April 21, 2023.

In December 2023, Nidhi was first summoned by the police to Rohini court to issue a statement. However, she sought another date, citing “ill-health,” according to a copy of the December 13, 2023 order that HT has seen.

The Delhi Police then issued a fresh summons to her on February 28, 2024 . “At this time, a doctor, who was on the medical board of the autopsy team and a policeman, who was the duty officer on the case, were examined,” said a second senior police officer, who asked not to be named. At that time, police said while Nidhi could not be traced, she replied to the summons and said she could not join the trial due to an “illness.”

HT has seen a copy of the order dated February 28, 2024, which said that the woman could not attend the court due to illness and no other public witnesses were present. The court again ordered the police to issue summons to her to appear before the court.

On April 18, 2024, which was the next date of hearing, Nidhi was again absent.

”In the next two-three months, we produced other public witnesses – of them, some people had seen the car speeding or the body or had some other information. Doctors were also called and examined, but Nidhi did not appear before the court,” said the second officer, requesting anonymity.

In all, HT accessed 21 court orders where Nidhi was either summoned in person, or where formal witnesses (which includes her) were summoned, but where she was not present.

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Sachin Sharma said the matter was sub-judice. “Police are following court orders. Enquiry was done to get the witness to the court but she hasn’t appeared yet. We have information about her and will follow the direction of the court,” he said

Police said they called six doctors who are now witnesses in the case even as Nidhi proved more difficult to track down. “We could only examine doctors and produce them before the court. Earlier, she was at her residence but now she is not even in Delhi and her family does not know where she is,” said the second officer, requesting anonymity.

On January 18 this year, the police told the court that they summoned Nidhi, but she didn’t come. The court order, seen by HT, stated that she “remained absent” and asked the police to now issue a bailable warrant against her of ₹5,000 through the investigating officer.

The next court date was on February 21 this year, but the hearing has now been moved to April 2.

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The prosecution has three significant witnesses -- Nidhi, who was with her at the time of the incident, Deepak Dahiya, resident of Ladpur village, who made multiple calls to the police control room after he saw the body being dragged under a car in Kanjhawala, and Raju, the deceased’s relative.

But the first police officer quoted above said the woman was the most crucial witness.“Deepak also saw the body but did not see the accident or the faces of the accused,” said the first officer, requesting anonymity.

Nidhi’s importance to the case can be gauged from the charge sheet. In the 800-page document, seen by HT, her statement mentioned that she “identified” all four accused (occupants).

“The eye-witness (woman) was examined who stated that she could identify the persons sitting on the driver seat and the front passenger seat. Accused Amit and Manoj Mittal refused to participate in the TIP (test identification parade)but during investigation, witness identified all the four persons present in the car at the time of accident. As per the version of Nidhi, she along with the deceased left... When they had gone for some distance, the offending Baleno car hit against the scooty due to which the deceased fell in between the left side tyres of the car whereas (she) fell on the other side and sustained minor injuries. The driver moved the car a bit forward and backward due to which Anjali got entangled underneath the car and was crying. While Anjali was still stuck under the car, the driver drove the car dragging Anjali along,” reads the chargesheet.

Advocate Shilpesh Chaudhary, who’s representing the accused in the case, confirmed that Nidhi has not appeared before the court. “The main witness is apparently refusing to come to the court. Her reasons are not clear. We also don’t know why she is not coming and testifying. Deepak (Dahiya) can’t be the sole eyewitness. He was just the PCR caller. He doesn’t know what exactly happened,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Mangolpuri, Anjali’s mother, Rekha Devi said she still has nightmares about the incident and can never forget what she saw. “My only hope is that my daughter gets justice. I have nothing left. And now, all those men are out on bail. I don’t know why her friend is not testifying. Even if she doesn’t, there are CCTVs showing what happened and her autopsy. Police should not allow those men to roam freely. They intentionally dragged my daughter on the streets for 45 minutes. Is that not murder ?” she said.