India News | Body in Fridge: Sahil Gehlot's Police Custody Extended; Wanted to Push Victim out of Car, Claim Sources
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Sahil Gehlot, accused of killing Nikki Yadav whom he had "secretly married", had plans to push her out of his car and pass it off as an accident, sources said on Monday.
New Delhi, Feb 20 (PTI) Sahil Gehlot, accused of killing Nikki Yadav whom he had "secretly married", had plans to push her out of his car and pass it off as an accident, sources said on Monday.
When his plan could not succeed, he strangulated her inside the car at the Nigambodh Ghat parking here and and stuffed her body into a refrigerator at his dhaba in southwest Delhi, they said.
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On Monday, a court here extended Gehlot's police custody by two days and remanded five others, including his father, in judicial custody for two weeks.
The sources claimed that Gehlot's father knew about Yadav's murder and supported his son. He had no qualms in admitting his role in the murder and told police that they had to somehow get rid of Yadav, they alleged.
However, a relative of Gehlot family claimed they were not aware of their relationship and would have prevented the tragedy.
The investigating officer (IO) informed the court that the identity of the priest who solemnised the marriage between the accused and the victim in October 2020 was ascertained and "verified". The officer said that the two had married without informing the family
Besides extending Gehlot's police custody by two days, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samiksha Gupta remanded the other five co-accused in the case in judicial custody for 14 days.
The IO had sought a three-day extension of Gehlot's custodial interrogation.
The officer informed the court that information about the alleged murder committed on February 10 was received four days later, following which Gehlot was arrested and the victim's body found at his instance.
During interrogation, Gehlot revealed the route he had taken with the victim in a car on the fateful day, the IO said.
The route covered places such as Nizamuddin, Anand Vihar, Nigambodh Ghat and finally, the "dhaba" (eatery) of the accused in Mitraon village, he added.
The officer said the route taken by Gehlot was "verified" and cross-checked with the help of CCTV footage.
"The accused went to the victim's house around 1 am (on February 10) and came out of her house at 6 am. We have the CCTV footage of Gehlot coming out of Yadav's house," the IO told the court.
During the investigation, it came to light that Gehlot had secretly married Yadav in October 2020 and the victim was asking the accused to get a social sanction for the marriage, the IO said, adding that the identity of the priest who solemnised the marriage has been ascertained and "verified".
Meanwhile, Gehlot's family was pressuring him to marry a woman of its choice and his engagement was fixed on February 9, he said.
"Why do you want three days of police custody when you have identified the route and the priest?" the magistrate asked the IO.
To this, the officer said certain aspects related to the probe, including a part of the route taken by the accused, remain to be verified.
The court then allowed two days of custodial interrogation of the accused.
Gehlot will now be produced before the court on February 22.
The others arrested are Gehlot's father Virender Singh, cousins Naveen and Ashish and friends Lokesh and Amar.
Gehlot allegedly killed Yadav, stuffed her body inside a refrigerator of his dhaba in southwest Delhi, and went off to marry another woman. The incident had come to light on February 14, Valentine's Day, four days after the crime.
They said one of the cousins of Gehlot arrested in the case is a policeman and an FIR under IPC section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) was registered against him at the Kanjhawala police station in a separate incident.
However, Gehlot's maternal uncle Yogi Mathur told PTI that they came to know about the relationship between the couple through media reports.
"None of us knew that they were in regular touch or that they were married and wanted to part ways. If the family was aware of their relationship, a tragedy of this magnitude would not have occurred," he said.
The family members would have intervened to prevent the tragedy, he added.
"When we got together for the wedding (between Gehlot and a woman chosen by his family), we were not aware of anything.... We cannot believe what has happened," Mathur said, adding, "The family is in shock and pain."
Recounting the day of engagement, he said Gehlot suddenly went missing and the family could not trace him.
"I was angry but his (Gehlot's) mother told me not to get angry with him as he is getting married," Mathur said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)