Kanjhawala hit and run case: Driver didn't have licence, another took blame

NEW DELHI: Changing its initial claim that a man named Deepak Khanna was driving the Baleno which hit and dragged 20-year-old Anjali for over 12km in Kanjhawala early on Sunday, Delhi Police on Thursday said their probe had revealed that it was another person, Amit Khanna, who was driving the car and he did not have a driver's licence.
Special CP (law and order) Sagar Preet Hooda also claimed that the five accused were aware that a woman was trapped under the car. Sources added that the men kept on driving in the hope that they could get rid of her body but the sound didn't stop. Hooda also revealed that police was looking for two more accused in the case for offences of evidence tampering and protecting the accused.
No Proof Hit-&-Run Victim Knew Accused: Cops
Special CP (law and order) Sagar Preet Hooda said 18 teams were working on the Kanjhawala case, where 20-year-old Anjali was struck and dragged by a car for several kilometres, and a chargesheet would be filed at the earliest. Police are also exploring legal options to get the case heard in a fast-track court, said the senior cop.
Explaining their discovery of a different driver, Hooda said Deepak had earlier taken the blame to protect Amit as the latter didn't have a licence. However, their lies were "nailed" during individual interrogation and cross-examination. Interestingly, Deepak is the sole accused and driver named in the FIR lodged by police.
Police have also booked two more men - Ashutosh, a resident of Rohini, and Ankush - in the case. Ashutosh is reportedly the man who had the Baleno in his possession. The car is registered in the name of one Lokesh who had given it to Ashutosh, a relative, as a gift. Deepak and Amit had borrowed the car from Ashutosh for the night on December 31. After the accident, the accused went to Rohini around 4.50am and returned the car. Ankush is the brother of one of the accused.
Delhi Police have also claimed that they have analysed CCTV footage apart from the call detail records of the accused and Anjali and Nidhi and found no connection or communication between them, ruling out rumours that the accused and victims knew each other. Police said that Anjali and Nidhi exchanged 25-30 calls in the three days preceding the accident, indicating that they were in close contact, but didn't comment on whether they were friends.
Police said they were looking for Anjali's phone and some jewellery she was wearing which may have fallen on the road when she was being dragged on the road.
Special commissioner Hooda said police had established that the accident took place between 2.04am and 2.06am and the body was found around 4.15am. "The distance between the place where the incident took place and the spot where the body was found is around 10-12 km, but it is not possible to say for how long the body was dragged," he said.
When questioned about the alleged lapses in Delhi Police's investigation, Hooda added: "We are also conducting an internal inquiry into the delay in the PCR's response. If there is any human error, disciplinary action will be taken against those responsible."
Meanwhile, Delhi Police commissioner Sanjay Arora has assigned some crime branch officers and a few experienced cops from other areas to assist in the investigation. They are part of the core team probing the case.