Amid huge public outcry, the Union Home Ministry ordered an inquiry.
New Delhi:
Sources told NDTV that the Union Home Ministry has directed that murder charges should be framed against five people involved in the Delhi hit-and-drag case that left a 20-year-old dead. Sources said the ministry also asked that policemen who ignored several SOS calls from eyewitnesses that night be immediately suspended. The ministry’s directions came after receiving the report of an inquiry which had ordered the country into the shocking case on New Year.
Anjali Singh’s scooty was hit by five drunk men on New Year’s and as it rolled under their car and got entangled in the undercarriage, they walked for 13 km trying to remove the body. A postmortem examination revealed that the woman had died of horrific injuries, fractures to her head, and skin lacerations. Her friend sitting behind suffered minor injuries.
The police, which were out of strength in view of New Year’s Eve, did not respond to multiple calls alerting them of the situation.
Amid huge public outcry, the Union Home Ministry ordered an inquiry.
An inquiry by a senior police officer has found three PCR vans and two police pickets guilty of negligence.
Sources said the ministry has directed that a show-cause notice be also sent to the district police in-charge. The officer should clarify what was the law and order situation in the area at that time. Sources said action should be taken against them as well if satisfactory answers are not received.
The five occupants of the arrested car told the police that they panicked after hitting the scooty and had no idea that the woman was trapped under the undercarriage. They said they were drunk, cleaning two bottles of liquor on their way back from Murthal in Haryana. He claimed that he could not hear anything because of the loud music in the car.
Police now say they have established from CCTV footage that the men were fully aware that the woman was trapped under their car.
Earlier this week, police told a Delhi court that one of the six CCTV footage showed two men getting out of the car two minutes after the accident and looking at the trapped woman. After this, they went ahead in trying to remove the dead body.
The men have so far been charged with “culpable homicide not amounting to murder”, negligent driving and causing death.