Kanjhawala death case: Six accused persons sent to 14-day judicial custody

A Delhi court on Monday sent the six persons accused of being involved in the gruesome death of a 20-year-old woman in the city’s Kanjhawala area on January 1, to judicial custody for 14 days, PTI reported.

In the early hours of New Year’s Day, Anjali Singh had died after her scooter was hit by a car. Her body got entangled in the wheels of the car and was dragged along for nearly 12 kilometres. Her naked body was later found in Kanjhawala’s Jonti village.

Seven suspects – Manoj Mittal, Deepak Khanna, Amit Khanna, Krishan, Mithun, Ashutosh and Ankush – were arrested in the case. Ankush was granted bail on Saturday, according to The Indian Express.

At Monday’s hearing, the prosecution told Metropolitan Magistrate Sanya Dalal that police had found that the accused persons were aware of Singh’s body being dragged, reported PTI.

The prosecution also told the court that two of the accused persons even got down from the car to check what was under the wheels. However, the public prosecutor did not disclose which of the two men did so.

The investigating officer in the case told the court that statements from 20 witnesses have been recorded in the case, PTI reported. He also said that a new witness, who was present around 100 metres from the spot of the accident, has joined the investigation.

The investigating officer added that police was obtaining more closed-circuit television footage and trying to establish the route that the car took.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police on Monday said Singh’s family has alleged that someone broke into their house when they were away and stole a television, among other things.

The family told the police that they were informed about the theft by their neighbours on Monday morning, reported PTI.

“A case has been registered in the matter under sections 457 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment) and 380 (theft in dwelling house, etc.) of the Indian Penal Code,” an unidentified officer said.

The officer added that the family has expressed apprehension that Nidhi, who was riding pillion on Singh’s scooter at the time of the accident, and the accused persons in the case could be behind the theft.

The case

The first information report in the case stated that the car dragged Singh’s body for 12 kilometers from Sultanpuri to Kanjhawala. The 20-year-old woman was returning home at 2 am when the accident took place.

Two of the accused persons, Deepak and Amit Khanna, had borrowed the car from Ashutosh, who in turn had borrowed it from his brother-in-law Lokesh, according to the police.

Ashutosh had told the police that Deepak Khanna and Amit Khanna took the car on December 31 around 7 pm and left the vehicle at his home around 5 am on January 1 after the accident, according to the FIR. The three other arrested men were also present in the car at the time of the accident.

A postmortem report had shown that Singh sustained injuries to her head, spine and lower limbs. It also showed that she had not suffered any injuries suggestive of sexual assault.