Shah seeks report, police get three-day custody of accused

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday directed his ministry to seek a detailed report from Delhi Police over the Kanjhawla incident in which a woman’s body was dragged for several kilometres by a car after it hit her scooter. 

Following direction from Shah, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) wrote a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora seeking a detailed report on the incident that took place on New Year’s morning in the Kanjhawla area in outer Delhi. Special Commissioner of Police Shalini Singh has been asked to submit a detailed report to the MHA after a proper inquiry.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s Rohini Court on Monday granted three days of police remand to interrogate five accused in the Kanjhawala death case. The accused were produced in a closed courtroom amid tight security. The case is related to the dragging of a woman under the car in the early hours of Sunday. Link Metropolitan Magistrate Ajay Singh Parihar granted three days of custody of Manoj Mittal, Amit Khanna, Deepak Khanna, Krishan and Mithun. The accused persons namely Deepak Khanna, Amit Khanna, Krishan, Mithun and Manoj Mittal were arrested on Sunday after the registration of the case. During a close courtroom hearing, the court granted the police custody after hearing the submissions of the Delhi police. According to sources, Delhi police sought 5 days of police remand. The investigation officer (IO) submitted that the investigation is at the initial stage. The accused are to be interrogated and confronted by each other to investigate the case. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that the strictest sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) should be slapped against the perpetrators in the Kanjhawala death case. Kejriwal added that he spoke to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and asked him to take exemplary action against the culprits. 

Taking to Twitter Kejriwal said, “Spoke to Hon’ble LG on the Kanjhawala incident. Requested him to take exemplary action against culprits, strictest sections of IPC shud be slapped against them. No leniency shud be shown even if they have high political connections. He assured me that he will take strong action.” 

A case under sections 279/304A/304/34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered at Sultanpuri police station and all the five occupants of the car were arrested. Accused Deepak Khanna is working as a driver in Gramin Sewa. Amit Khanna working for SBI Cards. Accused Krishan s/o working at Spanish Culture Centre at CP New Delhi Accused Mithun works as Hair Dresser at Naraina. Accused Manoj Mittal is a Ration Dealer at Sultan Puri. According to Delhi police, information was received at PS Kanjhawala (Rohini District) on Sunday at about 03:24 am. 

“The caller informed that a body of a person was entangled with a car,” the police said. 

The Delhi police traced the vehicle. At about 4:11 am, another PCR call was received at PS Kanjhawala about the body of a girl lying on the road. The dead body of the deceased was sent to SGM, Hospital, Mangolpuri wherein the doctor declared the patient brought dead and the dead body was preserved, the police said. Immediately, the car involved in the case and the occupants at the time of the incidents were traced and apprehended. During the interrogation, it was revealed that the car they were driving had met an accident with a scooty in the area of Sultanpuri. Spot inspection as well as the physical remains on the spot reveal that after the accident, the victim got entangled in the wheels and dragged for quite some distance, the police said