Kanjhawala case: Police likely to file charge sheet on April 1

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police is all set to file its first chargesheet in connection with the hit-and-drag case in which a 20-year-old woman -- Anjali Singh, died a painful death after being dragged by a car for 12 km in the early hours of January 1.

The chargesheet is likely to be filed on April 1 at a metropolitan magistrate court.

A source in the know of things said the draft was ready, adding "the chargesheet will be filed with all necessary evidence so as to enable a stiff sentence for all the accused".

"An ACP and an Inspector-level officer are working round the clock to ensure they prove the case of the prosecution before the court," the source said.

A team of five forensic experts from National Forensic Science University, Gandhinagar were specially called to visit Sultanpuri on the request of DCP Harendra K. Singh.

The forensic report is expected to be published soon, following which the chargesheet will be filed.

All the accused will be chargesheeted under section 302, 304, 201,120-B and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Initially, the case was lodged under section 304-A and 279 of the IPC. Later, other sections were added.

Another source said that the testimony of Nidhi, friend of the deceased Anjali, will play a crucial role in the matter.

The Delhi Police is banking on CCTV footage in which the incident was captured. Nidhi had, in fact, claimed that Anjali was screaming but the car's occupants didn't pay any attention to that.

On January 1, within three hours of the incident, the police had arrested five persons -- Amit Khanna, Mithun, Krishan, Manoj Mittal and Deepak Khanna who were moving in the car.

Four days later, on January 5, the police arrested two more accused, Ashutosh Bhardwaj -- the car owner and Ankush Khanna -- the brother of Amit Khanna.

Only Ankush was granted bail by the court as he had minimal role in the case.

Since January 9, the six other individuals are in the judicial custody.

Ashutosh, the car owner and Amit's brother, Ankush Khanna had talks with the five accused and as Amit did not have driving licence, Deepak was told to tell police that he was in the driving seat at the time of the incident.

Those who were in the car at the time of the incident will be chargesheeted under section 120-B, 302, 34 of the IPC as they were well aware that Anjali was stuck in the car. They even peeped out of window to see if she was still stuck, which shows they had common intentions.

Anjali was riding the scooty when she met with the accident in the early hours of January 1. Her clothes got entangled with the Baleno car and was dragged for 12 km, which led to her death.

Her naked body was found in the Kanjhawala area.

Autopsy revealed that she had 40 injury marks, her spine was broken and brain matter was also missing.

A total of 11 police personnel who were deployed on the route through which Anjali was dragged were placed under suspension.

The accused have confessed to the police that they were very well aware about the Anjali who had entangled into their car but they also kept on driving the car out of fear.