A DAY after a woman was mowed down outside a hotel in Jaipur, police on Wednesday arrested the main accused, Mangesh Arora, a 30-year-old businessman.
Arora is alleged to have rammed his vehicle into Uma Suthar (in her early 20s), and her friend, Raj Kumar Jhajharia (27), following a disagreement. A purported video of the incident is being circulated on social media. While Jhajharia is seen falling sideways, Suthar bore the brunt of the impact.
Trigger Warning: These visuals can be disturbing for the viewers
The incident is reported to have occurred outside Hotel Everland Wish, on Girdhar Marg in Jaipur’s Malviya Nagar, at 5.20 am on Tuesday. Suthar, originally from Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh, worked in catering and event management.
According to the FIR, filed on the basis of Jhajharia’s complaint, he and Suthar reached the hotel’s restaurant-bar at about 11 pm on Monday. Jhajharia said he was there to review some work at the rooftop of the hotel, where he claims he had invested some money.
“We saw Arora and his girlfriend arrive at the restaurant. They sat at another table and were consuming liquor. After about half-an-hour they started hurling obscene comments at us. When they did not stop, we had to go and talk to them,” Jhajharia said in his complaint.
Police said Arora and his girlfriend, identified as Rikky, had arrived at the hotel at about 2.30 am. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Jaipur East, Gyan Chandra Yadav, said the couple was accompanied by another man.
The DCP said Jhajharia, Suthar, Arora, Rikky and the hotel owner, Vishal, were “common friends”.
In his complaint, Jhajharia said Arora was looking at Suthar “with wrong intentions”. Arora tried to touch her inappropriately and started talking rudely to her, he alleged. “Suthar then booked a cab from her phone and we got out of the hotel sometime after 5 am and started waiting for the cab,” he said.
The DCP said that Arora and the two persons who were with him also stepped out then. “There was another argument outside and abuses were hurled. Arora took out a baseball bat from his vehicle and damaged the cab which had been booked by Suthar,” DCP Yadav said.
According to the FIR, the hotel staff tried to stop Arora from assaulting the others. “When they were trying to intervene, Arora first reversed his car. Jhajharia then stood in front of the car, and there was more heated exchange and talk of killing each other. Arora then drove forward and rammed his car into them,” the DCP said.
“Suthar was admitted at the Fortis Hospital between 5:30 am and 6 am, where the doctors informed that she died due to her injuries,” Jhajharia said in his complaint.
“Arora had wrong intentions regarding her from the beginning. When these could not be fulfilled, he got into a fit of rage and, to satisfy his ego, he ran his car over me and her, killing her,” he said.
The FIR was lodged at Jawahar Circle police station under IPC Sections for murder and attempt to murder.
The DCP said that multiple teams were formed to nab Arora, and raids were conducted in Ajmer, Hanumangarh and several places in Jaipur.
“He was on his way to Suratgarh (in Sri Ganganagar) when we detained his friend, Jitendra, who revealed his whereabouts to us. We put pressure on his father, relatives and friends… Arora then turned around and we picked him up from Jaipur,” DCP Yadav said.
Police said Jitendra has also been detained. “We are investigating his role too. Arora had dropped off his car with Jitendra, who then took Arora in his own car and dropped him off in another location, from where he helped him hire a cab,” the DCP said.
Police said they are also investigating an old Rajasthan Assembly MLA pass which was pasted on Arora’s vehicle.
The DCP said Rs 9 lakh was recovered from Arora’s vehicle. “During preliminary questioning, he said he had given Rs 9 lakh to Jitendra to help him with the case, hire a lawyer, etc. We are verifying his claims,” said Yadav.
Jawahar Circle SHO Dalbeer Singh, the investigating officer in the case, said while Arora is originally a resident of Ellenabad in Haryana’s Sirsa district, he has a garment showroom in Jaipur. His father has a business of spices.
