Mumbai: It has been 96 days, around 24 court hearings, ‘tareekh-pe-tareekh’ (series of court dates) — but justice eludes the families of Muhammad Hussain Mustafa and Muhammad Atif Zia, the two young men who were allegedly mowed down by a speeding Mercedes on 25 February in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
Similar to the Pune Porsche accident last month, which triggered nationwide outrage that has hastened the case probe, the Nagpur case had made news earlier this year but its investigation is proceeding at a snail’s pace.
The prime accused, Ritika Maloo, 39, allegedly in a drunken state, had hit the scooter of Hussain and Atif, with the former dying on the spot and the latter succumbing a few hours later in hospital.
Maloo was arrested after the incident but the police charged her under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 304-A (causing death by negligence not amounting to culpable homicide) — a bailable offence, and she was granted bail immediately. Further, only Maloo was made an accused, although her friend Madhuri Sarada, 37, was reported to have been in the car too.
Maloo later moved the local court for anticipatory bail in March and was granted ad-interim protection from arrest, which was cancelled only late last month, on 24 May.
As of now, Maloo is untraceable though the police are ready to arrest her again. They say they have completed the probe, but a chargesheet is yet to be filed.
“The lower court has agreed to our submission and rejected her ad-interim bail and now the hearing on her main application of anticipatory bail is on 13 June in the Bombay High Court. We are hopeful that her application will be rejected in the high court as well,” public prosecutor Rashmi Khaparde told ThePrint.
The aggrieved families of the victims have, meanwhile, questioned the slow pace of investigation and a writ petition has also been moved in the high court against the Nagpur police.
Speaking to ThePrint, advocate Prakash Jaiswal, who represents Maloo, said, “She is not absconding. She has gone to Rajasthan to her native place but because we fear police may arrest her illegally, she is not available right now. We are waiting for the hearing on 13 June at the Hon. High Court and we will take further procedure based on that.”
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‘Hit-and-run’
Mohammad Ateek, Atif’s brother, told ThePrint that they were four siblings — one sister and three brothers — and hailed from a farmer family in Washim district.
In Nagpur, the siblings “earned and learned”. While their living conditions were precarious in the beginning, Atif did multiple small jobs to earn and support his education, said Ateek.
From humble beginnings, Atif managed to land a job at TCS, where he met Hussain, according to his brother.
A month and a half before his accident, “he had landed a good job with a package of Rs 16 lakh per annum. You can imagine how proud the family was,” said Ateek.
On the night of 24 February, after dinner, Atif told Ateek that he wanted to go out with Hussain and that he needed their two-wheeler’s keys, which were with Ateek.
“Since I knew Hussain, and Atif used to go out, this was all normal to me. At just before 1.30 am, Atif filled the scooter with petrol and proceeded towards Ram Jhula bridge (the site of accident) to drop off Hussain when the speeding Mercedes rammed into them,” said Ateek.
According to the FIR in the case, which ThePrint has accessed, Iftekhar Nisar Ahmad, Hussain’s brother, received a call at around 2.30 am about his brother having been in an accident.
“According to witnesses, a speeding black Mercedes rammed the wall of Ram Jhula around 1.30 am and hit the scooter from behind. While Mustafa died on the spot, Atif was being treated at an ICU in the nearby Mayo hospital,” the FIR notes.
The car was allegedly being driven by Ritika Maloo and her friend Madhuri Sarada was with her. When the witnesses confronted them, they ran from the spot instead of helping the victims, claimed Ateek.
“My brother was seriously injured,” he told ThePrint. “He was in the ICU and doctors said he had internal bleeding and his left brain had moved slightly from its position. He died in the evening of 25 February.”
The probe & hearings
On 29 February, the police got the blood sample report of Maloo and it confirmed traces of alcohol, post which the police added Section 304 (II), culpable homicide not amounting to murder, to the FIR.
On 3 March, the police filed an application before the judicial magistrate for cancelling Maloo’s bail, which was rejected.
The police next moved the sessions court seeking to arrest Maloo but her defence had already moved court for anticipatory bail against the added IPC section on 12 March.
On 13 March, the court gave ad-interim protection from arrest to Maloo while the hearing over her anticipatory plea application continued in the sessions court.
Two months later, on 14 May, when the police gave notice to Maloo to appear for interrogation, her family informed them that she had gone to Rajasthan.
“According to the interim protection, she should be informing the police before going anywhere. In fact, she should be present whenever the investigation officer calls, but she breached that condition,” Khaparde told ThePrint.
On 21 May, the hearing on Maloo’s anticipatory bail plea concluded in the sessions court.
On 24 May, her ad-interim protection was cancelled after the sessions court rejected her application. But Maloo has now moved the high court for anticipatory bail.
On Tuesday, the high court also denied her interim protection and her anticipatory bail plea will now be heard on 13 June.
‘Deck is clear to arrest her’
According to the police, since the matter was pending in court, they could not move earlier to arrest Maloo.
“But now the deck is clear to arrest her. And we have started the next procedure,” Nagpur Deputy Commissioner of Police Gorakh Bhamre told ThePrint Friday.
“For the past 15 days, she has not been here. We have sent a team to Rajasthan based on her call location. However, she is not at the location and probably hiding at a relative’s place. Our team is out in Rajasthan. We will find her soon,” he added.
The police have also said that a lookout notice has been issued for Maloo and she cannot fly out of the country. A chargesheet is yet to be filed in the matter.
According to the police, the Ram Jhula case is “not complicated” as they have already obtained CCTV footage, restaurant bills, etc. Media reports said the women were returning from a club.
Two days ago, the police handed over the Mercedes car to Maloo’s family — something that has disturbed Atif’s family.
“It is a major piece of evidence that the police have handed over,” said Ateek. “What was the hurry to hand over the car when an arrest has not even been made? What if they tamper with the evidence? It looks like my brothers’ lives are cheaper than the Mercedes.”
When asked about this, the police said they had completed the investigation of the car.
“We even called the Mercedes’ team to assist us in the investigation. We have all the internal data and, according to the law, we have returned the car after a thorough investigation,” Bhamre told ThePrint.
Similar to the Pune case, the families of the victims in the Nagpur incident believe that the investigating officials and a few others are complicit in delaying the probe and not arresting Maloo yet.
“If the Pune police could work swiftly, why could the Nagpur police not? I want to ask our home minister and Nagpur MLA Devendra Fadnavis, why is our case not being fast-tracked,” he said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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surely here the religion is the 1st thing that the culprit, police and the courts are playing with… had it been a non muslim being hit by a non muslim, as in pune case, it would have been a different one.. here its non muslim hitting a muslim and that too in a bjp ruled state… that answer is surely delays and what not… later on it will be proved that it was not maloo but someone else, infact the 2 dead riders were drunk and they themselves hit the bridge and died… … its bjp police, blp courts, bjp lawyers and above all, its bjp culprits… so who will be punished in such a condition? maloo will join bjp and she will be relieved of all complaints…. irrespective of religion, the law should be same for everyone one… and progress quickly when there is evidence available wtih no scope of cross examination… also if that lady is hiding in rajasthan, how long will it take police to arrest and bring her? its again, rajasthan is a bjp ruled state and that again says it all