SNU murder-suicide: Police file FIR under Arms Act

Police said that Anuj had purportedly sent a 23-minute video clip to the university authorities, recorded purportedly before the incident, in which he said he was in a relationship with Sneha but they were no longer together. He said he was “broken inside” and “could not trust anyone”. He also said that he had been “diagnosed with stage three brain cancer” but had not told his parents. He spoke about punishing the woman and sought the forgiveness of both their parents. Singh’s family had said they were unaware of the relationship between the two and that he was physically fit.

The FIR, filed by sub-inspector Manoj Kumar Rai of Dadri police station, names Anuj for illegal possession of a weapon. It states that after police were intimated about the suicide by a security guard at the university, they went inside the room on the third floor of the hostel where they found the man lying on his stomach with a .32 bore pistol under him.

A used bullet along with a cartridge case was also found. The weapon, along with Anuj’s phone and ID card, was collected. Witnesses were questioned and their statements were recorded, the FIR stated.

A senior police officer, requesting anonymity, said they are waiting for a complaint from Sneha’s father and only a suo motu case with regard to the illegal use of arms has been registered.

“Police could only proceed under the Arms Act and have started a probe to find out the source of the weapon, how it was procured and how he could bring it inside the campus despite high security there,” said the officer.

Police said they are probing if Anuj came to possess the weapon when he visited his home in Amroha 15-20 days ago. “We have managed to understand the motive behind the crime and how it was done, and we are working on the part about the weapon now,” the officer added.

Anil Chaurasia, Sneha’s uncle, said they will file a complaint with police on Tuesday. “We have some rituals on Monday, and we will lodge the complaint after that,” he said.

He added that Sneha last visited their home on Holi and she stayed back at the college during the summer vacation because she was interning at a firm.

Her uncle also claimed the college had never intimated them about the complaints she made of alleged harassment by Anuj. “They didn’t tell us anything. It is such a grave issue and they didn’t let us know.”
The college is yet to respond to the claim.

On Friday, SHO of Dadri police station Sujit Kumar Upadhyay had said the woman had sent an email to the university in March stating that Anuj was allegedly harassing her. The university had called the duo for a counselling session after which they allegedly seemed to have reconciled, he said.

Meanwhile, a student at the university said the campus was nearly empty at the time of the incident as many had gone back for summer break. “Sneha had stayed back to volunteer for the farewell and convocation programmes. She was supposed to have gone home. The hostel was also mostly vacant. No one heard the gunshots and she was found lying on the ground later,” she said.

Another student claimed the university had asked them to remain tight-lipped over the issue.

A day earlier, a university spokesperson had said a high-profile committee had been formed to probe the incident and how the student got the gun and brought it to campus.