Vadodara: The mother and daughter accused of abetting the suicide of consumer rights activist Purshottam Moorjani were sent to police custody for four days by a court here on Wednesday. Moorjani shot himself dead on Friday night.
The accused, Sangita Sikligar and her daughter Komal Sikligar, were arrested from Rangola in Umrala taluka of Bhavnagar district.
In a suicide note sent to several persons over WhatsApp, Moorjani said he treated Komal as his daughter. He alleged that Komal and Sangita were demanding that he transfer some of his property to their name and threatened to frame him in a rape case if he did not comply.
Police sought five days to interrogate the accused to ascertain if they received any help while on the run. They also wanted to interrogate the accused regarding the contents of Moorjani's note, which had a narration of events before his suicide.
The grounds for remand included investigation into the possibility of someone else being involved with the mother-daughter duo. Police have gathered details of the phone call records of the accused and transactions at a petrol pump that stood on land owned by Moorjani. The accused wanted Moorjani to transfer the land to their name. Moorjani started a petrol pump at the location for Komal.
Moorjani also ostensibly paid half of the cost of an apartment for Komal. He paid the instalments for the loan for the flat. Moorjani alleged that Komal and her mother were forcing him to transfer the flat and the office of his organization, Jagrut Nagrik, to Komal.
The duo were named as accused in a complaint filed by Moorjani's wife. Moorjani, who shot himself dead at his residence, collected his revolver from the police station on the day of the suicide.