Accused at 18, jailed for 7 years, killed after release: Divya Pahuja’s tragic arc in Sandeep Gadoli encounter case
Court clears all accused in Gadoli case, meaning Divya — jailed for years and later killed — would have been acquitted had she lived
The police claimed that Divya had code words to share information with her mother, Sonia. She was also an accused in the case. THE YOUNGEST accused to be arrested in the ‘fake encounter’ case of Haryana-based gangster Sandeep Gadoli was 18-year-old Divya Pahuja. A model and first-year BCom student, Divya was accompanying Gadoli from Rajasthan to Mumbai, as he and his friends planned to go to Goa. The gangster, meanwhile, was on the run with over 40 cases against him including ten of murder. She was present in the hotel room where Gadoli was shot dead on February 7, 2016 in Mumbai. Her screams heard in the CCTV camera footage was cited as evidence later.
As the Mumbai police probed the genuineness of the encounter, it looked into the role of Divya and examined her social media updates on Facebook. The police said she had been updating her location on the social media app throughout her travel. The police decided to investigate whether it was part of her daily routine as a social media-obsessed teenager or whether it was a ploy and named her an accused. The police claimed that Divya had code words to share information with her mother, Sonia. She was also an accused in the case. There were code words for informing her about whether she had taken medicine, to indicate if Gadoli was present with her and whether he was carrying a firearm. The Mumbai police had claimed that Sonia was promised a flat and money in exchange for information on Gadoli, an allegation denied by both throughout their incarceration and during the trial.
There were code words for informing her about whether she had taken medicine, to indicate if Gadoli was present with her and whether he was carrying a firearm.
Share
