Delhi Police said on Thursday that two more men were involved in the Sultanpuri accident case wherein a 20-year-old woman, identified as Anjali Kumar, was hit and dragged by a car for about 12 kilometres from Sultanpuri and Kanjhawala in the early hours of New Year’s day.
During a press briefing, special commissioner (law and order) Sagar Preet Hooda said that during interrogation of the five men, who have already been arrested, they learnt about the involvement of two more men – identified as Ashutosh and Ankush.
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“Our team is conducting raids. We have recorded the statement of the eyewitness…We’re trying to arrest them,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.
Police arrested Amit Khanna, 25, Deepak Khanna, 26, Mithun, 26, Krishan, 27, and Manoj Mittal, 27, on Sunday morning for their role in the death of Anjali.
Hooda said that interrogation also revealed that at the time of incident, the car was driven by Amit and not Deepak. He added that post-mortem has ruled out sexual assault.
“We are in search of them (Ashutosh and Ankush). Both of them are friends of the five men under custody. They tried to protect the five accused…[They] have tried to tamper the evidence and have given misinformation,” Hooda said at the briefing.
The CP said that analysis of CCTV footage and CDR have found no connection between the accused and the deceased but confirmed that the five accused were “aware that there is a human body under the car”. “We are exploring legal process to take this case to a fast-track court,” he added.
“The incident took place between 2.04am to 2.06am. The body was found at around 4.15am. The distance between the two points, where the incident took place and where the body was found is around 10-12 kms, but it is not possible to say how long was the body dragged,” Hooda was quoted as saying.
The cop said the investigating team is also conducting an internal inquiry into the delay in the Police PCR response, and added that if any “human error” is found, disciplinary actions will be taken against those responsible.
Hooda’s statement on laxity comes after it was found that as many as 10 police vehicles, including those of PCR units, that were deployed on the night following calls at the control room, failed to track the offending car.
Hooda said that a total of 18 teams of Delhi Police have been formed for the investigation of the case, and they are trying to file a charge sheet as early as possible.
Anjali’s friend, Nidhi, who was riding pillion with the victim on her scooty at the time of the accident, is the key witness in the matter. Police have quizzed her and recorded her statement after a CCTV footage that surfaced on Wednesday showed the 21-year-old entering her residence at 2.30am, supposedly following the accident.
Hooda said that no connection has been found between Nidhi and the accused.
Nidhi, who suffered minor injuries, said she fled the scene as she was scared and thus, did not report the incident to police. She went home and narrated the ordeal to her mother.
According to preliminary findings and Nidhi’s statement, the two women went to a party at a hotel at 7pm to celebrate New Year’s Eve and left from there after midnight. Nidhi said that she had an argument with Anjali as the latter was in an inebriated state and she didn’t want her to ride the scooty.
The five arrested men, meanwhile, have told cops that they bought and consumed alcohol on their way to Murthal and back, and were unaware of someone being under their car. Nidhi, however, has refuted the claim and said despite Anjali shouting for help after her foot got trapped under the grey Baleno car, the men continued to drive. She said that they tried to hit her as well but failed.
Anjali’s family, meanwhile, have dismissed the accuracy of Nidhi’s statement and her claim of the victim being in an inebriated condition. Anjali’s mother Rekha Devi said that her daughter did not drink and never came home drunk.
Hooda said that police, at this point, can only “give a statement if she was drunk or not only after the post-mortem report”. “It does not have relevance to this case, as it is a case u/s 304 IPC,” he added.
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Forensic reports have found traces of blood on the wheels and base of the Baleno car, confirming that the 20-year-old was indeed beneath the vehicle. It also revealed that Anjali suffered as many as 40 injuries to her body, including lacerations, and her ‘brain matter’ was missing.
Anjali’s family on Thursday said that they have demanded police to invoke murder charge against the five arrested men, and will be visiting the Sultanpuri police station for the same in the afternoon. They had also visited the station on Wednesday.
Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia visited Anjali’s residence on Wednesday and assured a job to the next of her kin besides the ex gratia of ₹10 lakh already announced by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
