Nikki murder case: Accused Sahil Gehlot's father among 5 arrested

NEW DELHI: The Crime Branch has arrested five persons in connection with the Nikki Yadav murder case, including Sahil Gehlot's father on charges of helping his son in the "conspiracy", Delhi Police said on Saturday.

"Apart from the main accused Sahil Gehlot, Delhi Police have arrested 5 people. His father has also been arrested on the charges of helping him in the conspiracy," Special CP Ravinder Yadav confirmed while speaking to ANI.

"Sahil's father Virender Singh has been arrested after police found that he knew that his son had allegedly murdered Nikki. He has been booked u/s 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC. 4 others including friend, cousin and brother of accused Sahil Gehlot arrested," he added.

According to sources, Sahil and Nikki, who lived in a live-in relationship, had got married at a temple in Noida in October 2020.

"Sahil's family was unhappy with this marriage. The police have also recovered the marriage certificates of Sahil and Nikki during the remand. Sahil's friend and cousin helped him hide Nikki's body in the fridge," sources said.

Earlier, Crime Branch sources revealed that prime accused Sahil had "deleted all the data from Nikki's phone".

"The accused knew that his and Nikki Yadav's chat was big evidence for the police, so he deleted all the data as earlier many times they had quarrels through WhatsApp chat," sources said.

In the killing of 25-year-old Haryana woman Nikki Yadav, who was allegedly strangled by her boyfriend Sahil Gehlot with a charging cable, Sahil revealed during the interrogation that Nikki was with him on the night of February 9 after which he killed her in the parking lot around Nigam Bodh Ghat between 8:30 am and 9:30 am on 10 February.

After killing Nikki, the accused switched off her phone and kept it with him and took out her SIM, the crime branch of Delhi police said.

Nikki Yadav's phone has also been recovered from accused Sahil.

According to the crime branch sources, since today morning the accused Sahil Gehlot is being thoroughly investigated and was also taken to Kashmere Gate where he killed Nikki in the car.

Moreover, the Police are also planning to take Sahil to Nizamuddin, Anand Vihar Railway Station where he had taken Nikki on the night of the murder to know the complete sequence and exact place and time of Nikki's murder, sources said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Crime Branch team reached Nikki's flat on Wednesday evening and took possession of the CCTV DVR of the flat as it is the most important evidence in the case.

The CCTV camera footage installed in the flat shows the accused Sahil Gehlot going inside the flat, who came around 12 to 1 am and then taking Nikki Yadav out of that flat.

The crime branch team has also checked the footage of CCTV cameras of many routes in Param Puri of Uttam Nagar and taken them in their possession.

The crime branch team has also questioned some people living in the flat about Nikki Yadav and accused Sahil Gehlot.

Earlier on Wednesday, the last rites of Nikki Yadav, who was allegedly strangled by her boyfriend with a charging cable, were performed in her native Haryana's Jhajjar.

Nikki was strangled to death allegedly by her partner after she came to know of his impending marriage with another woman, police said. After his arrest on Tuesday, the accused Sahil Gehlot was presented before a Delhi court and sent to five-day police remand.

DCP Crime Branch Satish Kumar said that the accused is on remand for five days and an inquiry is on to identify the route taken that night.

"The accused is on remand for five days. Inquiry is on. Our multiple teams are working to identify the route taken that night. We are also scanning CCTV footage," said the DCP crime.

Kumar further said that on February 9 there was an argument about his marriage and Sahil got and strangulated the victim with a mobile cable. The accused was getting engaged on February 9.

The accused went to meet Nikki at her flat and left early in the morning, they went to many places in Delhi, during which there was an argument about his marriage. During this, he got angry and strangulated the victim with a mobile cable, said DCP Crime Branch.

"After that, he kept the victim's body in the refrigerator in a dhaba in Mitraon village and then the accused went to his marriage. We are investigating deeply about this case," he added.