Anjali death case: Court rejects Ashustosh Bharadwaj’s bail plea

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New
Delhi,
Jan
12:
The
Delhi
Police
told
a
metropolitan
court
on
Thursday
the
live
location
and
Google
timeline
of
the
accused
were
yet
to
be
obtained
to
“clearly
establish”
their
individual
roles
in
the
hit-and-drag
case
that
killed
a
20-year-old
woman
in
the
national
capital.
The
court,
which
rejected
the
bail
plea
of
accused
Ashutosh
Bhardwaj,
noted
the
prosecution’s
submission
that
he
“misled”
the
investigation
and
conspired
with
the
other
accused
to
destroy
the
available
evidence.

Metropolitan
Magistrate
Sanya
Dalal
said
considering
the
gravity
of
the
offences,
the
fact
that
the
investigation
is
at
an
initial
stage
and
the
offence
alleged
against
the
accused
(attempt
to
commit
culpable
homicide)
is
exclusively
triable
by
a
sessions
court,
this
court
is
not
inclined
to
grant
bail.
“Investigating
agency
submits…live
location
and
Google
time
line
are
yet
to
be
obtained
to
clearly
establish
the
role
of
each
accused,”
the
judge
noted.

Additional
Public
Prosecutor
Atul
Srivastava
alleged
Bharadwaj
had
“misled
the
investigation”
by
stating
co-accused
Deepak
Khanna
was
driving
the
car.
He
said
Bharadwaj
provided
the
car
to
the
other
accused
and,
despite
being
the
first
person
to
be
informed
about
the
incident,
deliberately
withheld
the
information
about
the
crime.

Instead,
he
“introduced”
the
name
of
Deepak
Khanna
as
the
driver,
the
APP
said,
adding
it
was
found
during
the
investigation
that
another
accused
Amit
was
at
the
wheel.

”There
is
a
thin
line
of
difference
between
having
knowledge
and
subsequently
having
knowledge.
We
are
investigating
the
case…When
he
(Bharadwaj)
was
a
free
man,
he
misled
the
investigation.
He
can
mislead
again
in
future,” the
APP
said.

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Raising
questions
about
the
conduct
of
Bharadwaj,
the
APP
said
though
he
was
under
legal
compulsion
to
inform
the
police,
he
misled
the
prosecution.

”It
shows
that
the
accused
Bharadwaj
might
be
in
agreement
with
other
accused
persons,”
he
said.
The
prosecutor
said
it
is
never
our
case
that
Bharadwaj
was
inside
the
car
but
that
he
provided
the
vehicle
involved
in
the
accident
to
another
co-accused
who
did
not
possess
a
driving
licence.
The
prosecution
also
informed
the
court
that
the
live
location
and
google
time
line
of
the
accused
persons
were
yet
to
be
obtained
for
ascertaining
their
role
in
the
incident.
It
said
police
have
analysed
the
Call
Detail
Records
(CDRs)
and
CCTV
footages
related
to
the
crime.

Bharadwaj’s
advocate
Shilpesh
Chaudhary
presented
a
video
clip
to
buttress
his
claim
that
he
was
present
at
his
house
at
12.30
am
on
January
1.
He
said
around
4.23
am,
co-accused
Ankush,
who
is
currently
on
bail,
made
a
phone
call
to
him,
following
which
Bharadwaj
left
his
house.

The
advocate
also
said
the
Google
time
line
and
live
location
of
Bharadwaj
could
be
verified
to
ascertain
the
accused’s
innocence.

Seeking
bail,
he
contended
the
offences
alleged
against
Bharadwaj
are
bailable.

Chaudhary
also
said
Bharadwaj
had
cooperated
with
police
after
the
alleged
incident
and
helped
them
arrest
two
other
co-accused.
Police
had
arrested
Deepak
Khanna
(26),
Amit
Khanna
(25),
Krishan
(27),
Mithun
(26),
and
Manoj
Mittal
in
the
case
on
January
2.
Later,
they
zeroed
in
on
Ashutosh,
who
was
arrested
four
days
later.
Accused
Ankush
had
surrendered
on
Friday
and
was
released
on
bail
the
next
day.

The
remaining
six
accused
were
remanded
in
14
days
judicial
custody
on
January
9.
Anjali
Singh
(20)
was
killed
in
the
early
hours
of
the
new
year
day
after
her
scooter
was
hit
by
a
car,
which
dragged
her
for
more
than
12
kilometres
from
Sultanpur
to
Kanjhawala.

Story first published: Thursday, January 12, 2023, 20:46 [IST]