Anjali death case: Court rejects Ashustosh Bharadwaj's bail plea

New Delhi, Jan 12: The Delhi Police told a metropolitan court on Thursday the live location and Google timeline of the accused were yet to be obtained to "clearly establish" their individual roles in the hit-and-drag case that killed a 20-year-old woman in the national capital. The court, which rejected the bail plea of accused Ashutosh Bhardwaj, noted the prosecution's submission that he "misled" the investigation and conspired with the other accused to destroy the available evidence.

Metropolitan Magistrate Sanya Dalal said considering the gravity of the offences, the fact that the investigation is at an initial stage and the offence alleged against the accused (attempt to commit culpable homicide) is exclusively triable by a sessions court, this court is not inclined to grant bail. "Investigating agency submits...live location and Google time line are yet to be obtained to clearly establish the role of each accused," the judge noted.

Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava alleged Bharadwaj had "misled the investigation" by stating co-accused Deepak Khanna was driving the car. He said Bharadwaj provided the car to the other accused and, despite being the first person to be informed about the incident, deliberately withheld the information about the crime.

Instead, he "introduced" the name of Deepak Khanna as the driver, the APP said, adding it was found during the investigation that another accused Amit was at the wheel.

''There is a thin line of difference between having knowledge and subsequently having knowledge. We are investigating the case...When he (Bharadwaj) was a free man, he misled the investigation. He can mislead again in future,'' the APP said.

Raising questions about the conduct of Bharadwaj, the APP said though he was under legal compulsion to inform the police, he misled the prosecution.

''It shows that the accused Bharadwaj might be in agreement with other accused persons,'' he said. The prosecutor said it is never our case that Bharadwaj was inside the car but that he provided the vehicle involved in the accident to another co-accused who did not possess a driving licence. The prosecution also informed the court that the live location and google time line of the accused persons were yet to be obtained for ascertaining their role in the incident. It said police have analysed the Call Detail Records (CDRs) and CCTV footages related to the crime.

Bharadwaj's advocate Shilpesh Chaudhary presented a video clip to buttress his claim that he was present at his house at 12.30 am on January 1. He said around 4.23 am, co-accused Ankush, who is currently on bail, made a phone call to him, following which Bharadwaj left his house.

The advocate also said the Google time line and live location of Bharadwaj could be verified to ascertain the accused's innocence.

Seeking bail, he contended the offences alleged against Bharadwaj are bailable.

Chaudhary also said Bharadwaj had cooperated with police after the alleged incident and helped them arrest two other co-accused. Police had arrested Deepak Khanna (26), Amit Khanna (25), Krishan (27), Mithun (26), and Manoj Mittal in the case on January 2. Later, they zeroed in on Ashutosh, who was arrested four days later. Accused Ankush had surrendered on Friday and was released on bail the next day.

The remaining six accused were remanded in 14 days judicial custody on January 9. Anjali Singh (20) was killed in the early hours of the new year day after her scooter was hit by a car, which dragged her for more than 12 kilometres from Sultanpur to Kanjhawala.