New Delhi: After being on the run for 10 days, controversial former Haryana Minister Gopal Kanda surrendered before police in the wee hours on Saturday and was arrested in connection with the suicide of his former employee Geetika Sharma.
Kanda, who was absconding for the past 10 days after police served him a notice to appear before them to join investigations, surfaced at Bharat Nagar Police Station at 4 AM. Before entering the police station, he told reporters that he was joining investigations as directed by the Delhi Police.
“Kanda has surrendered and we have arrested him,” P Karunakaran, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) told PTI.
Delhi Police had conducted over 60 searches and raids in Haryana, Goa and Siliguri in West Bengal, besides questioning around 30 people in connection with the case. His brother Govind Kanda was also arrested on Friday for allegedly helping Kanda evade police.
Kanda’s employee, Aruna Chaddha, a senior functionary with now defunct MDLR airlines, has already been arrested and is in judicial custody in connection with the suicide of 23-year-old air hostess Geetika Sharma, who allegedly took her life on August 5 at her Ashok Vihar residence.
In her suicide note, Geetika had alleged that Kanda and Chaddha were harassing her to rejoin the former minister’s firm after she left the job. Reacting to Kanda’s surrender, Geetika’s brother Ankit said, “This is a planned and well thought out entry. Now my only fear is that the investigations will be impartial of not. 12 days is enough to destroy evidence.Whatever power Kanda could have used to tamper with evidence he has. The investigation should be transparent.”
“I want his interrogation to be done before camera and a retired judge so that he does not change his statement,” he said.
Ankti said Geetika’s Facebook account has been deactivated and alleged that Kanda was behind it. “I have informed the DCP about it. I don’t know who or how it was done.Kanda is behind it,” he said. He also alleged that the Haryana Government is supporting Kanda.
The anticipatory bail plea of Kanda was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on Friday which said that despite being a “free man” he himself did not file it and it was a “sufficient” ground for its rejection.
The court also came down heavily on Delhi Police for not pressing its plea before the magisterial court to search his premises in Haryana.
Without going into the legal and factual contentions raised by Kanda’s lawyer in the day-long hearing, Justice P K Bhasin had said, “In my view, this anticipatory bail application is liable to be rejected, without going into the merits at all, only on the ground that the same has not been filed by the person apprehending his arrest.” The Rohini Court on Thursday had issued a Non Bailable Warrant (NBW) against Kanda. Kanda, who was last seen coming out of his Gurgaon residence on August 8, was served with a notice to join investigations on August 7. PTI
Before entering the police station, Kanda said, “I came here on my own to help the investigation.”
Speculation was rife late on Friday night that Kanda might surrender as the High Court refused to grant him anticipatory bail. Around midnight, his brother Govind too said that he will surrender in ten minutes and later his lawyer, who came to the police station, said the same.
Following this, police erected barricades across the city to arrest him but Kanda managed to evade all the security and landed in front of the police station. He came in a vehicle with media stickers on it hoodwinking police personnel deployed at barricades on the road. (PTI)