Khar murder: Court gives cops a dressing down

While defence lawyer argues NYE death was an accident, cops draw magistrate's ire for not questioning accused at hospital

Even as Khar police, investigating the murder of a 19-year-old psychology student, claimed on Thursday that accused Diya Padalkar is not cooperating in the investigation and blaming co-accused Shree Jogdhankar for the entire incident. Her lawyer claimed that the case is of an accident and not murder. The Bandra court was hearing the police's remand application for the accused duo.

Diya Padalkar's family at Bandra court on Thursday

The court also came down heavily on Khar police for not questioning Jogdhankar while he is admitted at Cooper hospital. As the police claimed Padalkar's non-cooperation, her lawyer Ashok Mishra said that the police need to tell the court what exactly occurred during the New Year's Eve party. Jogdhankar's lawyer, on the other hand, said that police must explain his injuries.

'Padalkar is lying'

In their remand application, the Khar police have said, "When we asked her about the entire crime sequence, she put all blame on Jogdhankar. Because Jogdhankar is in the hospital, she is assuming that whatever she says, we will believe it. This is creating difficulties in the investigation."

Diya outside Bandra court on Thursday

The remand application further stated, "When we asked where was she between 1.45 am and 2.15 am on the day of the incident, she is only saying that she had a fight with the victim and was being beaten by her. After that, she says she does not know what happened. When asked why she did not inform the party's organiser Yash Ahuja and her other friends about the fight or while she was going to the hospital, she said that she was drunk." The remand also mentioned that Padalkar lied about going to Hinduja hospital and then home by foot.

Shree Jogdhankar

Mishra said they are ready to cooperate and that police custody is not required. "My client has been the deceased's friend since they were four years old. She could not, in her wildest dreams, have thought of harming her, forget murdering her in their 14 years of friendship. She never touched her at any occasion and she would not go to the extent of killing her."

"During the lockdown, Padalkar and the victim had an online bakery business. Why would she harm her friend for a boy she met only in September last year?" Mishra added. He also demanded counselling for her, saying that she's stressed. He added that she turned 18 on November 20, 2020, and that she could not have achieved adulthood in just two months. And that had the incident occurred two months earlier, she'd have been tried as a juvenile.

Responding to the claim of the incident being an accident, the victim's lawyer Trivankumar Karnani said it's cold-blooded murder. The court also approved Karnani's application to be the intervener on behalf of the victim's family.

Jogdhankar's interrogation

Speaking to mid-day, Padalkar's lawyer, Mishra said, "The court asked the investigating officer what has been done in seven days' custody. And why the second accused was not interrogated at the hospital when he was in his senses. The investigating officer did not have an answer to that."

Jogdhankar's lawyer, Mahesh Vaswani, said that they are ready to cooperate and that his statement can be recorded at the hospital with the management's permission. "After he left Bhagwanti Heights, he too had multiple injuries. He is very hefty, while the deceased was thin. So she could not have assaulted him to lead to such injuries. There must be something else to the case which the police need to find out," Vaswani told the court.

The police moved an application to detain Jogdhankar in the hospital, to which the court pointed out that he is already in their custody. "If you wanted to interrogate him in the hospital you should have moved an application earlier," the magistrate said.

The court extended the accused duo's custody till January 12. "Considering the submission, nature of offence and gravity of the offence, it is proper to grant custody for custodial interrogation," the court said. The Khar police also mentioned in their application that the case is serious in nature and is having an impact on the society where parents are anxious about the safety of their kids. Police also mentioned that the two accused need to be confronted together to recreate the crime scene.

IO changed

After the victim's kin met Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, along with activist Asif Bhamla of Bhamla foundation on Wednesday, the case being investigated by Police Inspector (PI) Dilip Utekar has been transferred to Khar senior PI Gajanan Kabdule. Kabdule will appear as the investigating officer (IO) before the court for submission in the next hearing. "We are thankful to the home minister and Bhamla foundation for helping us get justice for my daughter," the victim's mother said.

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No. of years Diya Padalkar and the victim had been friends

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