The New Year began with a heinous crime of a woman being hit and dragged by a car for 10km in the dead of the night. The police had conflicting versions. TNIE brings a recap of the incident that has rocked the capital
There has been one too many opinions aired on the national television since the horrific incident of a death of a 20-year-old came to light on the New Year’s Day. In the dead night of the New Year, Anjali Kumari was first hit by a car, and then her body was dragged for 10-12 km for around 90 minutes. She was found lying mutilated and naked on a road in the national capital.
It took the Delhi Police almost seven days to crack the case even though it had in just 12 hours of the accident arrested five of the seven accused. Whereas, the sixth was nabbed later and the seventh accused surrendered at the Sultanpuri police station.
Drink And Drive
It all began when four friends - Amit Khanna (25), Krishan (27), Mithun (26), and Manoj Mittal (27) decided to celebrate the New Year together. Amit worked for SBI cards in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar while Krishan used to work at the Spanish Culture Centre at Connaught Place, Mithun was a hair-dresser and Manoj had a ration shop at Jahangirpuri. On December 31, 2022, they all assembled at Manoj’s shop in the evening to celebrate and started consuming alcoholic drinks. Heavily drunk, all four decided to go to Murthal, Haryana. a popular place for people to have paranthas.
Amit who had borrowed a car from his friend, Ashutosh, decided to take all of them to Murthal, unaware that this would be the most horrific journey of their life. Around 9 pm all four accused left for Murthal and returned to the capital just after midnight.
Parallelly, 20-year-old Anjali Kumari, a resident of Aman Vihar, Rohini, had left her house in the evening and promised her mother, Rekha, to be back home by 2 am. While speaking to this newspaper, Anjali’s mother said the last time she spoke to her was around 9 pm. Anjali had gone to an Oyo hotel in Rohini area along with her friend Nidhi to celebrate the New Year. Around 1 am, Anjali and Nidhi left the hotel and were on their way home when they met with an accident with a Baleno car in which the four accused were travelling.
Initial Probe
The incident was first reported at the Kanjhawala police station. However, Sultanpuri police station SHO, who was on patrolling duty, came across the mangled remains of a scooty shortly after the accident. Since a shoe was also lying along with the damaged scooty, the SHO went to the police station and made a DD entry at 3.53 am. Whereas, at 3.24 am, a PCR call had been received at the Kanjhawala police station in which a caller stated that a car heading towards Qutubhgarh had a dead body tied underneath it. Staff deployed at pickets was alerted as well the message was flashed within the police circle to trace the vehicle.
After nearly an hour, at 4.11 am, the Kanjhawala police station again received a call about a body lying on the road. Subsequently, the police reached the spot along with the crime team and inspected the area. This was the point where the cops of two districts - Outer and Rohini - began connecting the missing dots. The police then began scanning the CCTV footage in which the Baleno car could be seen.
The cops identified the registration number of the vehicle and reached its owner’s place who said the car was being used by one of his relatives named Ashutosh. The police went to Ashutosh’s place and found the Baleno car parked there. Ashutosh told the police that one Deepak Khanna and Amit Khanna had borrowed the car and had left the vehicle at his residence in an accidental condition around 5 am.
Deepak Khanna was a driver by profession. The police then arrested five people - Deepak Khanna, Amit Khanna, Krishan, Mithun, and Manoj Mittal, unaware that Deepak was not in the car at the time of the accident.
Twist And Turns
However, two days later, on January 3, it was found that Anjali was not alone at the time of the accident and was accompanied by another woman who had escaped unhurt. Special Commissioner of Police (law & order), Sagar Preet Hooda, immediately called a media briefing, termed the finding of another woman as a major development in the case and said the police had the prime witness of the accident.
The woman, named Nidhi, was tracked down by the police. According to Nidhi, Anjali was riding the scooty at the time of accident and in an interview to a TV news channel, claimed that she escaped the ghastly accident with minor injuries while Anjali got stuck underneath the car.
“They (the accused) were aware that a woman was underneath their car. To get rid of her, they even moved their car back and forth, but Anjali was unable to break free and as stuck. She was screaming, bachao-bachao (save me, save me), but they didn’t pay any heed to her cries and drove away with Anjali stuck underneath,” Nidhi said.
When asked why she hadn’t informed the police, Nidhi said, “My brain had stopped working after the accident. Everything happened so quickly that I was not able to do anything. I went straight home. Had I informed Anjali’s family about the accident, they would have blamed me for it,” she said. Even as Nidhi demanded justice for her friend and strictest punishment for the accused, she has also accused her deceased friend (Anjali) of driving in an intoxicated state at the time of the accident. Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Swati Maliwal questioned the insensitivity of the witness Nidhi on not doing anything for her friend and walking away after the accident.
Two days later, the police said they had identified two more suspects in the case -- Ashutosh (from whom the car was borrowed) and Ankush (brother of accused Amit). According to the police, Ashutosh also tried to derail the investigation but on January 6, both the absconding accused Ashutosh and Ankush were arrested.
Witness, Previously A Criminal
Interestingly, as the investigation continued in the case, it was found that prime witness Nidhi was arrested two years back in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra in a drug smuggling case on December 6, 2020, by the Government Railway Police (GRP) along with two associates. She was arrested for smuggling 30 kg of ‘ganja’ from Telangana and was sent to jail and later was released on bail. As per the FIR registered by the Agra Police accessed by this newspaper, Nidhi had at that time told the cops that the ‘ganja’ was ordered by some person named Deepak in Delhi.
DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal once again questioned the authenticity of Nidhi and demanded that the accident case be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation as she was not satisfied with the ongoing probe of the Delhi Police.
“Through media reports, we came to know that Nidhi was involved in a drug smuggling case and she was supposed to supply drugs to some Deepak. Pertinently, Deepak is also one of the accused in the Delhi accident case. Is he the same Deepak? It needs to be investigated and I demand that the case be transferred to the CBI,” Maliwal said in a video message. It was not just Maliwal but the Delhi Police was criticized by several for not responding timely to PCR calls.
Action Against Dereliction
On January 13, as many as 11 cops were suspended for negligence in duty. The stern action came just a day after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs directed the Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora to suspend the police personnel who were deployed in three PCR vans and two pickets at the time of the accident. Of the 11 police personnel who were suspended, five were on two pickets and six were on three PCRs. Among the suspended, two were sub-inspectors, four assistant sub-inspectors, four head constables and one constable.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had constituted an inquiry committee, headed by Special Commissioner Shalini Singh, to find out any laxity on the part of Delhi Police. The Home Ministry has also asked the Delhi Police to file a chargesheet in the case at the earliest and also ensure that every necessary step is taken for the prosecution of the accused.
Fact file
Prime witness, Nidhi, a history-sheeter
Prime witness Nidhi was arrested in UP’s Agra in a drug-smuggling case in 2020. She was arrested by the Railway Police in Agra along with her two associates for smuggling 30 kg of ‘ganja’ from Telangana. Subsequently, she was sent to jail and was later released on bail. As per the FIR registered by the Agra Police, accessed by this newspaper, Nidhi had at that time told the cops that the ‘ganja’ was ordered by some person named Deepak in Delhi.
Anjali’s body was beyond recognition
The post-mortem report revealed the damage on the victim’s body was due to the constant abrasion of her body on the road. Her skull was broken and her brain had popped out. There were at least 40 external injuries and her ribs were exposed from the back as the flesh had completely peeled off. There were deep wounds on her forehead and both her arms and legs were also fractured.