New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday extended the judicial custody of Nikki Yadav murder case main accused Sahil Gehlot and five others for 14 days.
The accused were produced in the court after the expiry of their custody and the Link Metropolitan Magistrate extended their judicial custody till April 5.
Gehlot had allegedly strangled 23-year-old Yadav near Kashmiri Gate on February 10 and married another woman on the same day. Four days later, Yadav’s body was found in a fridge at a dhaba, owned by Gehlot, in Mitraon village on the outskirts of Delhi.
The court had, on Monday, pulled up the police for not producing the case diary of the murder and had asked the Investigation Officer (IO) to come with it on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the court then directed to preserve the Call Detail Record (CDR) along with the mobile location of accused, Lokesh Yadav.
Allowing a plea seeking the preservation of CDR, Link Metropolitan Magistrate Nitesh Goyal also permitted a plea for signing and pagination of the case diary by the IO.
The court had, on Monday, extended the judicial custody of the accused persons, including Gehlot for one day and by one more day on Tuesday.
During the hearing on Tuesday, Lokesh Yadav’s counsel, advocate Anirudh Yadav submitted that the accused had been arrested in the matter but he has no role in the murder and conspiracy.
Counsel further argued that it is necessary to preserve the CDR along with the mobile location of the accused in order to avoid any manipulation and that it is also necessary to get the case diary signed and paginated by the IO for the purpose of a fair investigation.
Advocate Yadav also submitted that some of the mobile phones seized by the police have recording facilities. All the conversations are recorded and the police must have heard them. These phones ought to be sealed and sent to the FSL for examination.
On the other hand, the investigation officer (IO) claimed that Lokesh Yadav and other suspects had been arrested in the murder case and that on the day of the murder, they were near the flat in Uttam Nagar, where Nikki Yadav had resided.
He also submitted that a request for obtaining a certified copy of CDR has been sent to the concerned mobile operator.
On Monday, Metropolitan Magistrate Paras Dalal had directed the IO to produce the case diary and pagination of the same on Tuesday.
The court had noted that the IO, due to his absence, deputed a Sub Inspector to attend the court hearing, who did not bring the case diary.
After noting the submission of advocate Anirudh Yadav, the court had asked the police how the offences related to murder and conspiracy are made out against him.
On March 6, the court had extended the judicial custody of Gehlot five others by 14 days, which expired on Monday.
Earlier, for Lokesh, advocate Yadav had moved an application seeking the marking of the case diary and showed displeasure over manipulation in it.
Gehlot’s father, Virender Singh; cousins Naveen (a constable in Delhi Police) and Ashish; and friends Lokesh and Amar are accused of hatching a conspiracy to get rid of Yadav, so he could go ahead with his wedding with another woman.
According to a senior police official, Gehlot was interrogated at length during police custody and disclosed that Yadav was trying to stop him from marrying someone else as they had already solemnised their marriage in 2020.
“She was pleading with him not to go ahead with the marriage fixed by his family with another girl on February 10. However, Gehlot along with his father, two cousins, and two friends hatched the conspiracy and planned to remove the deceased from their way,” the official had said.
“He executed the plan and murdered her and informed other co-accused persons about it on the same day and then all of them went ahead with the marriage ceremony.”
