Anjali death: 'Man accused of driving car was at home during accident'

Delhi Police has arrested another person Ashutosh in the Kanjhawala case, in which a woman was dragged for 12 kilometres by a car that hit her scooter, an official said on Friday (January 6).

“In (the) Sultanpuri case, sixth accused Ashutosh has been arrested who had given false information to the police. Further investigation is on,” said special commissioner of police (law and order) Sagar Preet Hooda.

Ashutosh is the brother-in-law of the owner of the car that dragged 20-year-old Anjali Singh to her death in Kanjhawala, Outer Delhi, on Sunday morning. Ashutosh had lied about who was behind the wheel of the car involved in the hit and run case, officers said on Friday.

The owner of the vehicle, Lokesh, had given his car to his brother-in-law Ashutosh, who subsequently gave it to Amit Khanna. “He lied to police that Deepak took the vehicle from him and that he was driving the car,” a senior officer said.

On Thursday, the police said they were looking for two suspects who were allegedly involved in shielding the five accused who dragged the woman under their car. Earlier, the police had arrested Deepak Khanna (26), Amit Khanna (25), Krishan (27), Mithun (26) and Manoj Mittal in the case. After going through CCTV footage and call detail records, the police zeroed in on two more suspects, Ashutosh and Ankush Khanna, and said they were involved in shielding the accused.

Also read: Two more men involved in horrific Delhi car accident

Ankush Khanna is the brother of the accused Amit Khanna. Amit Khanna does not have a driving licence and after he informed his brother about the accident, the latter allegedly convinced Deepak Khanna, a Gramin Seva driver, to tell the police that he was behind the wheel at the time of the accident.The accused, Deepak Khanna, was asked by his cousins and friends to tell police he was with them at the time, since he is the only person with a driving licence, police said.

The police said that during interrogation of the accused, it was found that it was Amit Khanna, one of the five named in the FIR, who was allegedly driving the car. Hooda said they have scientific evidence to prove this.

Also read: Anjali was screaming, accused deliberately dragged her to death: Delhi woman’s friend

“During interrogation, the accused gave contradictory statements. CCTV footage was checked, but it wasn’t clear who was driving. We have found that Deepak’s phone location was of his house that night. During sustained interrogation, Deepak broke down and confessed,” said a senior police officer. Ashutosh, who works at a tech firm in Noida, is said to have known about the body and allegedly lied to the police about the driver, said Hooda.

The occupants of the car have been booked for culpable homicide, rash driving and criminal conspiracy.