March 25, 2009 12:29:35 am
Jigisha Ghosh had left for her office (Hewitt Associates Private Limited) around 7 pm on Tuesday,March 17 and was expected to be home by 4.30 am the next day. When she did not turn up that day,her father,Jagannath Ghosh,registered a missing complaint.
The police said the three accused,Ravi Kapoor,Amit Kumar Shukla and Baljeet Malik,were roaming around in Jigishas colony,in the CPWD quarters,possibly looking for victims. They noticed that a cab had dropped Jigisha,who was talking on her phone. Police officers said Baljeet and Ravi approached her on the pretence of asking for an address and kidnapped her.
They first took her to the State Bank of Patiala ATM in Mahipalpur,where they withdrew Rs 20,000. They then went to Faridabad,where near Surajkund,they smothered Jigisha to death before dumping her body in bushes along the Surajkund-Faridabad road,near Badhkal lake.
Sources said the other accused told Ravi not to kill her but he did it saying she could identify them. They also threw a bag containing both Jigishas mobile phones. Then they went to an SBI ATM in Saket,where they withdrew Rs 5,000. After that they went to their respective homes.
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They again met up at 11.30 am and went for shopping in Sakets Select City Mall and at the Sarojini Nagar Market,using Jigishas credit card to shop for items worth Rs 45,000.
The police said the suspects were identified on the basis of CCTV camera footage obtained from the Sarojini Nagar Market.Jigishas body was discovered on Friday,March 20.
Unanswered questions
LACK OF MOTIVE
* The police have not been able to establish a motive behind Soumyas murder. When questioned on the same,Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal said,These are criminal elements. They do not need reasons for what they do.
* Police officers later said the criminals tried to flag down her car with the intention of robbing her. When she did not stop,they overtook the vehicle and shot her in the head. Strangely,they did not take any of Soumyas belongings,including her mobile phone.
MYSTERY OF THE USED CARTRIDGE
* The police claimed to have recovered the used cartridge,used to shoot Soumya,from the country-made pistol that was recovered from the Santro car of the accused.
* Question: Why did the accused keep a used cartridge in the pistol,that too for six months? Also,to establish that the used cartridge is the one used in the murder would require a hectic process of forensic lab examinations.
THE U-TURN
* Police said that after shooting her,the accused followed all traffic rules and took a U-turn on Nelson Mandela Marg to come back and check on Soumya. Police claim they came back to ensure she was really dead.
* Why would the accused come back to check on the victim when they could use the same time to flee?
HARDENED CRIMINALS DISCLOSE THIS EASY?
* Police sources say the accused keenly followed the Soumya murder investigation. Yet they broke down within hours and confessed to her murder.
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