Murder of hotel manager: bias in probe, alleges his mother

Nearly 10 months and three investigation officers later, the Delhi Police are still clueless about the mysterious death of a 23-year-old hotel manager whose body was found in a flat, belonging to a woman friend of his, in Dwarka.

On June 13, 2017, Arnav Duggal was found dead in the flat and preliminary inquiry prompted the police to approach it as a suicide case.

However, after Arnav’s mother approached the court alleging foul play in the police investigation, the court ordered the police to register a murder case.

The court accepted the contention of the complainant Anu Duggal, Arnav’s mother, and said that the ligature marks found on the backside of victim’s neck hinted at strangulation and not hanging.

The complainant had alleged that Arnav was strangled to death by his friend at her Dwarka residence.

‘Monitor probe’

On Tuesday, the Dwarka Court directed the deputy commissioner of police concerned to monitor the probe.

“The police are portraying the murder of my son as a suicide from day one. They have not called the woman and her father for questioning even once. The woman’s father is highly influential and he is well connected,” said Anu Duggal, who is a school teacher.

She added that even after the court’s direction, the crime scene has not been recreated. “Why has the woman and her father not been questioned yet. Ten months have passed and still the investigating officer is waiting for forensic reports of CCTV footage and mobile phones,” said Ms. Duggal

Alleging “bias” in the investigation, Ms. Duggal said: “We demand speedy investigation in the case. The FIR had been registered under IPC Section 302 (murder) but still the accused woman and her father is getting special treatment.”

The court has ordered an inquiry into the alleged lapses on the part of the police officials involved in the case and directed that strict action be taken if a deliberate attempt to scuttle the probe was found.