Police add abduction, dacoity charges to Sandhya Singh case

The crime branch on Sunday added Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to abduction, and dacoity with an intention to murder to the high-profile Sandhya Singh case.

The crime branch on Sunday added Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to abduction, and dacoity with an intention to murder to the high-profile Sandhya Singh case.

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Earlier, only a missing complaint had been maintained in the police diary.

Singh, the 50-year-old sister of musician duo Jatin-Lalit, had gone missing on December 13 last year. Jewellery worth more than Rs20 lakh had also disappeared. Her remains were found near a creek in Vashi in the last week of January.

Sources said after their investigations, the crime branch has now applied IPC sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 397 (robbery or dacoity with attempt to cause death) to the case.

A review meeting was held on Friday by Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police (crime) and Niket Kaushik, additional commissioner of police (crime) and officers of the special team that had been formed to crack the case, sources said.

“As jewellery was stolen and the DNA report has clearly established her identity, we have applied the relevant penal sections,” an official said, requesting anonymity.

Police sources said there are many suspects and no one has been given a clean chit yet. “We will check on each person’s role till the culprit is found,” said another official.