Anya Vats (R), Victim Yuvraj Singh Manchanda (L)
The court noted that Delhi Police uploaded Manchanda’s details, including his photograph, on ZIPNET on September 11, when an FIR was registered in Delhi, two days after Gurgaon Police recovered an unidentified body from a drain in Badshahpur.
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday pulled up Gurgaon Police over its investigation into the murder of 31-year-old Delhi-based real estate professional Yuvraj Singh Manchanda, saying the probe was “botched” after the victim’s body was cremated without being identified. Senior advocate Amit Prasad, appearing for Manchanda’s sister, told the court that the cause of death mentioned in the postmortem report handed over by Gurgaon Police was “asphyxia following ante mortem drowning”, whereas the findings of the investigation submitted by Delhi Police showed that the victim died after being shot by the accused. Judicial magistrate First Class Rahul Jain of Saket court made the oral observation while hearing a fresh compliance report submitted by Gurgaon Police in connection with the case. The court subsequently called for a fresh compliance report from Gurgaon Police. She has also sought details of articles recovered from the body and their chain of custody, ZIPNET records and communication logs, besides digital communications between police officials and the family.
“You have botched up the investigation having already cremated the body,” the court said.