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Manchanda murder case: Family alleges body cremated, belonging given away, ashes discarded

Ten days after the murder, the Delhi police arrested the accused, Anya Vats and her partner Sanyam Sachdeva from Uttarakhand on September 16

Published on: Sep 18, 2026, 18:34:51 IST
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The family of Yuvraj Singh Manchanda – a 31-year-old executive with a realty firm who was killed, allegedly by his ex-colleague and her partner on September 6 in Gurugram – has alleged that the Gurugram police “destroyed all evidence,” “cremated him as an unidentified man,” and “gave away his belongings.”

On September 10, his body was fished out from a sewer in Gurugram, and four days later, it was allegedly cremated by Gurugram police.
On September 10, his body was fished out from a sewer in Gurugram, and four days later, it was allegedly cremated by Gurugram police.

Ten days after the murder, the Delhi police arrested the accused, Anya Vats and her partner Sanyam Sachdeva from Uttarakhand on September 16. “After that, we were told that the Gurugram Police had the body since September 10 but didn’t upload anything on Zipnet,” alleged Manchanda’s sister, Karishma.

Zonal Integrated Police Network (ZIPNET) is an online platform for police and the public where public can search for details of missing persons by entering information for found date, age range, height, clothing, appearance, physical features, sex, state etc.

Deep Dive

Why did the Gurugram police cremate Yuvraj Singh Manchanda's body as unidentified?

The Gurugram police cremated Yuvraj Singh Manchanda's body as unidentified after it was recovered from a sewer, without notifying his family, which has raised concerns about evidence destruction.

How did Yuvraj Singh Manchanda's family realize he was missing?

Yuvraj Singh Manchanda's family became concerned when he did not return home after telling them he was going for a meeting in Gurugram, and they received unusual WhatsApp messages from his phone until it was switched off.

What actions did the police take after discovering Yuvraj Singh Manchanda's body?

After discovering Yuvraj Singh Manchanda's body, the police cremated it as unidentified and later arrested the alleged perpetrators, Anya Vats and Sanyam Sachdeva, who were accused of his murder.
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The service is coordinated by Delhi Police, Gurgaon Police, Rajasthan Police, Noida Police, Uttar Pradesh Police, Uttarakhand Police, Punjab Police, Haryana Police, Himachal Pradesh Police and Chandigarh Police.the police uses it to update details on missing persons and recovered bodies (identified and unidentified).

Also read: ‘Will come back on Saturday’: How Delhi murder suspects kept texting victim’s family, kept them in dark

Manchanda was set to get married in October, and had gone to Lajpat Nagar with his sister Karishma to buy a sherwani. That was the last time Karishma saw him. After that, he headed to Gurugram “for some work related meeting.”

When he didn’t return home that night, his family called him multiple times, only to receive a text from his phone the next day that he was finalising an important deal and will call soon. This went on till September 8, and then his phone was switched off.

The accused, police claimed, were texting from Manchanda’s phone, who had been shot dead on September 6. “For two days, his body was in the car. On September 8, they dumped his body in a sewer in Gurugram and fled to Uttarakhand,” said a senior Delhi police official.

On September 10, his body was fished out from a sewer in Gurugram, and four days later, it was allegedly cremated by Gurugram police. “His clothes, his kada, his ring… where are they? I begged the Gurugram police to at least give his clothes but they said that the clothes were stinking and that they gave them away to the poor and needy. This was such an important case and now all evidence is gone. What should I tell my elderly parents?” asked Karishma, who said that she has been running from pillar to post, unable to grieve.

“We don’t have his body, his ashes, his post mortem report, his clothes… How is this fair?” she asked.

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jignasa Sinha

Jignasa Sinha is a Special Correspondent at Hindustan Times in New Delhi. With more than six years of reporting experience, she covers crime and policing in the national capital. Her beats also include Delhi prisons, the Delhi Fire Services and Delhi courts, while she regularly reports on gender, labour and social justice. Over the course of her career, Jignasa has reported on major criminal investigations, international crime syndicates, high-profile cyber fraud cases, law-and-order developments, protests, disasters and public institutions. Her reporting combines breaking news with in-depth, long form, human interest stories that examine the human impact of public policy, policing and the criminal justice system. In addition to reporting for the newspaper, she contributes to the Hindustan Times website and app, and plays an active role in coordinating on-ground coverage of major developments and breaking news across Delhi. Before joining Hindustan Times, Jignasa worked at The Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi, where she spent five years covering crime, Delhi airport, courts and health. She began her journalism career as an intern at an AI magazine in Bengaluru while pursuing her postgraduate diploma in multimedia journalism at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media.

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