Gurugram Murder: In the latest updates on the Gurugram murder case, the victim’s family alleged that the police mishandled the situation, destroyed “all the evidence", and cremated him without preserving the belongings. The victim, identified as Yuvraj Singh Manchanda, was murdered on September 6 by his former colleague Anya Vats (35) and her partner Sanyam Sachdeva (36).
Manchanda’s sister Karishma said that the Gurugram police had recovered Singh’s body on September 10. However, they did not upload anything on the Zonal Integrated Police Network Zipnet (an online platform used by police to share information on missing persons, unidentified persons, stolen items, and so on). Moreover, the cops did not retain the belongings of Singh.
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What does the procedure say?
As per the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued under the Delhi Police’s “Duties of Police Regarding Missing Persons and Unidentified Dead-Bodies", cops are required to photograph the unidentified person and crime scene, collect all evidence and upload it on Zipnet.
The cops are also required to publish “hue and cry” notices in local newspapers. If a body remains unclaimed for more than 72 hours, the police officials can perform his last rites and preserve his belongings.
What did the Gurugram Police say?
Gurugram Police rejected the allegations made by the victim’s family residing in Sarita Vihar. Inspector Rajesh Bagri, SHO of Badshahpur police station, said details of the body were uploaded on Zipnet on September 16. He said the police control room was alerted about the recovery on September 10, and the information, including details of the body, was relayed to neighbouring control rooms, HT reported.
Singh’s sister, Karishma, countered the statements, saying, "They cremated the body on September 14… The investigators caught the accused on September 16, and they learnt that my brother was murdered on September 6 and that the body was in Gurugram. When I learnt of this, I rushed to Gurugram to collect my brother’s ashes. But after waiting at the Badshahpur police station for three hours, the police told me that the ashes had been discarded."
She further explained that the Gurugram police uploaded her brother’s details on ZipNet in front of her. Karishma said that six days had already passed by then.
Yuvraj Singh Manchanda went missing on September 6, after he went to shop for his wedding and had lunch with his siblings. Singh said that he will meet an ex-colleague in Gurugram and return by 10 pm. However, he did not return.
Two days later, on September 8 at around 4:16 pm, they received their last WhatsApp message from Yuvraj, following which his phone went off again. On September 11, Yuvraj's family filed a missing person report at the Lajpat Nagar police station.
Meanwhile, the Gurugram Police found Singh's body and labelled it as unidentified. On September 14, the cops had cremated the body, two days before Singh’s family discovered the death.