Sandeep Gadoli encounter case: SIT shocked with acquittal; say had strong evidence against Haryana cops
Officers claimed they were discussing the quantum of punishment as they were certain that the evidence provided in the chargesheet was enough to prove the charges against the accused.
It was Gadoli’s brother Kuldeep who had petitioned the Bombay High Court saying his brother had been murdered and sought registration of a murder case. (File Photo)
Mumbai police SIT officers who investigated the Sandeep Gadoli murder case were taken aback by the acquittal of all eight accused as they believed they had gathered strong evidence in the form of CCTV footage and whatsapp communication to prove the role of the arrested accused.
Officers claimed they were discussing the quantum of punishment as they were certain that the evidence provided in the chargesheet was enough to prove the charges against the accused.
Avdut Chavan, the investigating officer on the case who has since retired, said, “I am not aware about the judgement in the case as I have come to my village. But we had filed a detailed chargesheet with strong evidence. I am surprised”
Another senior officer who was part of the SIT that investigated the case said, “We believed we had a solid case against the accused, the crux of which was CCTV footage from the cameras of the Andheri based hotel where the incident took place. We also had whatsapp communication between Divya Pahuja, one of the accused, and her mother, another accused where she is giving the location of Gadoli whom she was accompanying. All I can say is that it is quite inexplicable.”
Another cop who was involved in the investigation from day one said, “There are cases where in spite of our best efforts, we are not sure if the evidence will be enough. In this case we all were certain that we had enough evidence.”
Explaining the reason behind this confidence, the officer said that what helped them is that the Haryana officers had left behind the Digital Video Recorders (DVR) of the CCTV cameras that helped them as strong evidence.
“We had footage of them smashing the CCTV cameras but the DVRs, where the footage is recorded and stored, was left behind. In one footage, Gadoli is seen writhing in pain, and two Haryana cops are present but not doing anything to save him,” the officer said. He added that the entire team is waiting for the order copy to find out why the case resulted in an acquittal.
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On whether they will appeal the judgement, a senior officer currently with the crime branch said that they will wait for the order copy to find out the grounds on which the accused have been acquitted. ” After going through the order copy, we will take a decision although we feel we had strong evidence in the case,” the officer said.
It was Gadoli’s brother Kuldeep who had petitioned the Bombay High Court saying his brother had been murdered and sought registration of a murder case. The High Court then directed the Mumbai Police in February 2016 to register an FIR in the matter and form an SIT to investigate the case. IPS officer KMM Prasanna was asked to lead the SIT and Avdut Chavan was the investigating officer of the case.
Mohamed Thaver is a highly specialized journalist with the Expertise and Authority required to report on complex law enforcement and legal issues. With a career dedicated to the crime beat for over a decade, his work provides readers with informed and trustworthy insights into Maharashtra's security and justice systems.
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Core Focus: Has been exclusively covering the crime beat for over a decade, building deep, specialized knowledge in the field.
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Mohamed Thaver’s long-standing specialization in the crime beat—combined with his focus on technological aspects like cyber crime and his direct coverage of major institutions like the Mumbai Crime Branch and the Maharashtra Home Department—underscores his Trustworthiness and status as an expert source for detailed and reliable journalism on law and order.
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