31 March,2021 05:35 AM IST | Mumbai | Shirish Vaktania
Shree Jogdhankar and Diya Padalkar
Three months after Jahanvi Kukreja was allegedly murdered during a New Year's Eve party at a Khar residential building, police filed the charge sheet on Tuesday. Prime accused Shree Jogdhankar along with co-accused Diya Padalkar killed the 19-year-old woman and fled the spot, stated the 250-page charge sheet.
Jahanvi with her mother Niddhi Kukreja
The blood sample collected from Jogdhankar's T-shirt matched with that of the deceased, said police. Senior Inspector Gajanan Kabdule of Khar police station said they have dropped Sections 34 (common intention) and 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence) of the Indian Penal Code.
The incident happened on the 14th floor of Bhagwanti Heights in Khar West, while nearly 20 others were partying. Police so far have CCTV camera footage from the society and statements of 12 people present at the party.
According to the charge sheet, "The accused dragged Kukreja by her hair from the fifth floor to the second floor... After killing Kukreja, both accused found fighting on the second floor near Kukreja's body at 1.45 am. Police found 48 injuries on Kukreja's body. Police also recovered earrings and the hair band of Kukreja and Padalkar from the staircase [sic]."
"Police also found Kukreja's and Padalkar's blood from the bed sheet in the room. The fight occurred on the fifth floor of the building, on the staircase, and the accused also threw Kukreja from the second floor [sic]," it stated. Police said there was a love angle in this case, and that Kukreja was crying on the terrace while talking on the phone.
"We also recorded the statements of doctors from Sion hospital and Hinduja hospital, where the accused went after the murder. Jogdhankar visited Sion hospital and told the doctor that he fell on the road. Padalkar, who visited Hinduja hospital, also claimed to have fallen down on the road. They both gave false information to doctors," police added.
Jogdhankar lawyer Mahesh Vaswani told mid-day, "Police have failed to properly investigate the assault and murderous injuries suffered by my client, Jogdhankar, and have also not filed all medical papers with the charge sheet. It also seems that police have been misled in the investigation. All witnesses' statements are contradictory, and it's clear police made some mistake in filing the charge sheet against Jogdhankar."
"We have faith in our judiciary and we will get justice," said Niddhi Kukreja, Jahanvi's mother. "We have applied for a certified copy of the charge sheet," said Advocate Trivankumar Karnani appearing for the victim's family.
