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HomeIndiaGovernanceThey are watching me: Kathua rape-murder accused 'suspected' much before arrest

They are watching me: Kathua rape-murder accused ‘suspected’ much before arrest

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Supplementary chargesheet submitted Monday contains forensic analysis of young suspect’s mobile phone showing exchange of text messages.

New Delhi: Vishal Jangotra, one of the accused in the Kathua rape and murder case, had expressed fears about his calls being monitored, much before the Jammu and Kashmir crime branch could even get a whiff of his alleged involvement in the crime.

Text messages exchanged between Vishal and his friends and relatives during this period were recovered during a forensic examination of Vishal’s mobile phone by experts in Chandigarh.

The evidence forms a part of the supplementary chargesheet that the J&K police filed Monday.

Vishal is the younger son of Sanji Ram who allegedly hatched the conspiracy. He is the eighth accused in the case and has been charged with rape and murder of the eight-year-old Bakerwal girl in January. The juvenile arrested in the case is Vishal’s cousin.

In several chats with his friends in early and mid-February, Vishal allegedly sounded nervous and had expressed apprehensions about not being able to visit his home in Kathua because of the tension there, the chargesheet says.

He allegedly kept himself confined to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh during this period, keeping a close watch on the investigations.

Police were clueless about Vishal’s role until Feb-end

Investigators apparently did not have any clue about Vishal’s alleged role in the crime until the end of February. It was only after the arrest of Pravesh Kumar, a friend of his juvenile cousin, on 25 February that Vishal’s alleged role in the crime was known and he was arrested in Meerut on 16 March.

In one of the alleged messages exchanged between Vishal and ‘Tonu’, a relative, on 17 February, Vishal sought to know if the juvenile’s mother had visited him in custody. To this, Tonu asked him not to worry, as the teenager had not revealed any names except Deepak’s, the chargesheet alleges.

Deepak Khajuria, a special police officer, is another accused in the case.

On 16, 17 and 18 February, multiple messages allegedly exchanged between Vishal and one of his friends, wherein he said he would get a new mobile phone as he feared his existing phone was being monitored.

Sources claimed that even his friends had allegedly told the investigators that there was a lot of behavioural change in Vishal after his return from Rasana in January when the crime had taken place.

According to the chargesheet, on 25 February when Pravesh was arrested, Vishal told another friend that he won’t be able to go home in Kathua as there was some trouble brewing there in the wake of a girl’s murder and asked him not to go there as well.

On at least two instances, he was trying to create a law and order problem by provoking people in Hiranagar and its surrounding areas and even stopped Kashmir-bound trucks, the chargesheet alleges.

‘He sensed trouble much before arrest’

A J&K police officer said that Vishal came under the scanner much later.

“His chats indicate he was apprehending some trouble much before the police got to know about his role in the crime. Why would he otherwise lie low and stay back in Meerut while all his friends returned to their homes?” the officer asked.

He alleged that Vishal was also particular about not using his phone and suspected it to be monitored by the police.

“He stopped his friends from visiting his home in Rasana,” the official alleged.

Another piece of evidence that features in the chargesheet is the analysis of call record details of the accused, which hinted at the presence of other accused — Sanji Ram, Deepak Khajuria, constable Tilak Raj — in Rasana around some of key dates.

It alleges that Vishal had not made any calls to his parents from 12 to 17 January, indicating his presence in Rasana on important dates such as 13 and 14 when the crime was believed to have taken place. It also gives details of the travelling pattern of Vishal between Jammu and Meerut.

The chargesheet incorporates the forensic analysis of Vishal’s handwriting on his college’s attendance sheets and answer sheets.

Tampering of answer sheets

According to the chargesheet, the FSL reports indicate tampering of attendance sheets and the answer sheets of exams dated 12 and 15 January — these were allegedly written by Vishal not on those dates but on a later date.

The crime branch officials suspect the involvement of Vishal’s college/university staff in helping him tamper with examination records.

The chargesheet also sheds light on the bank account details of accused Sanji Ram, sub-inspector Anand Dutta and Tilak Raj.

It shows a substantial withdrawal of money by Sanji Ram from his bank accounts, ranging anywhere between Rs 40,000 and Rs 1 lakh, on different dates in December and January, despite no major events in his family in this period.

Investigators have alleged that the amount was used by Sanji Ram to bribe the local police to ensure destruction of evidence.

The chargesheet also talks about the effects of clonazepam, a sedative, on the child victim and corroborates the previous chargesheet — that the dosage administered to the young girl was so strong that it was believed to have kept her hanging by a thread for days before she was actually killed.

The trial in the case is being held at a fast-track court in Pathankot as ordered by the Supreme Court. As many as 15 prosecution witnesses have been examined during the in-camera trial.

One of the prosecution witnesses had alleged intimidation by people with a vested interest. The prosecutors have been resisting a demand from the defence lawyers about giving out the list of witnesses in advance to them.

While there are four public prosecutors in the case, there are around 50 lawyers defending the accused.

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