A local court has ordered a reinvestigation into the death of Yogita Thakre, the girl whose body was found inside a parked car at BJP chief Nitin Gadkari’s home in May 2009.
On Wednesday, judicial magistrate Anjali Patil rejected the report of the state CID, which had ruled out foul play in Yogita’s death.
Yogita, 7, daughter of domestic help Vimal Thakre and labourer Ashok Thakre, was found dead in one of Gadkari’s cars at his home in Mahal area. The body was discovered by Gadkari’s driver Manohar Panse.
At the time, Gadkari was on a flight to Nagpur and his wife Kanchan was at Ramtek, 50 km from Nagpur. Their two sons were at home.
The police had registered a case of accidental death. But the girl’s parents alleged she had been sexually assaulted and killed. Postmortem report indicated she had been smothered.
On their plea, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court had handed the probe to the state CID in March 2010.
On Wednesday, Patil rejected the CID’s closure report, stating it was not as per the order passed by the high court.
The Thakres also the opposed the report and raised 23 objections and citing discrepancies, charged the agency with protecting the culprits. They said they suspected the involvement of a police guard on duty at the Gadkari residence.
They also alleged that the investigation was conducted in a shoddy fashion. The guard on duty was not taken into police custody. The car in which Yogita’s body was found was not seized by the police either.
{{/usCountry}}They also alleged that the investigation was conducted in a shoddy fashion. The guard on duty was not taken into police custody. The car in which Yogita’s body was found was not seized by the police either.
{{/usCountry}}Accusing the police of shielding the culprits, the parents demanded a CBI probe and narco-analysis tests on Gadkari, his PA Sudhir Deulgaonkar, driver Panse and then inspector Kotwali police station, RM Katole.