New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday extended the judicial custody of Sahil Gehlot, the main accused in the Nikki Yadav murder case, and five others by 14 days.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Dwarka courts, Samiksha Gupta extended their judicial custody till March 20.
The magistrate also allowed family of co-accused Ashish and Lokesh to meet them in the courtroom.
Appearing for Lokesh, advocate Anirudh Yadav moved an application seeking the marking of the case diary and showed displeasure over manipulation in it.
The judge listed his application for hearing on March 13.
On February 20, Gupta had sent five co-accused to 14 days of judicial custody and two days later, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Archana Beniwal sent Gehlot to 12-day judicial custody.
Four fresh charges were invoked by police under different Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Gehlot’s counsel D.S. Kumar had said that while the FIR was initially registered under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the IPC, police have now invoked Sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 34 (common intention), 202 (intentional omission to give information of offence by person bound to inform), and 212 (harbouring offender).
Gehlot had allegedly strangled 23-year-old Yadav near Kashmiri Gate on February 10 and married another woman on the same day.
Yadav’s body was found in a fridge at a dhaba, owned by Gehlot, in Mitraon village on the outskirts of Delhi on February 14.
Gehlot’s father Virender Singh; cousins Naveen (a constable in Delhi Police) and Ashish; and friends Lokesh and Amar are accused of hatching a conspiracy to get rid of Yadav, so he could go ahead with his wedding with another woman.
According to a senior police official, Gehlot was interrogated at length during police custody and disclosed that Yadav was trying to stop him from marrying someone else as they had already solemnised their marriage in 2020.
“She was pleading with him not to go ahead with the marriage fixed by his family with another girl on February 10. However, Gehlot along with his father, two cousins, and two friends hatched the conspiracy and planned to remove the deceased from their way,” the official had said.
“He executed the plan and murdered her and informed other co-accused persons about it on the same day and then all of them went ahead with the marriage ceremony.”
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