‘Cold-blooded murderers deserve strictest punishment’: Gautam Gambhir on Khanjawala horor

New Delhi [India], January 2 (ANI): Former India cricketer and BJP MP Gautam Gambhir on Monday condemned the incident at northwest Delhi’s Khanjawala on New Year’s night in which a 20-year-old woman, riding a scooter, was hit by a car and dragged for a few kilometres under the wheels until she died.

The BJP MP said the “cold-blooded murderers” deserve the strictest punishment. Gambhir added that the visuals of the incident are ‘shocking’.

Taking to Twitter, the BJP MP wrote, “The visuals (of the Khanjawala incident) are shocking. Skin from the back of the victim was completely scraped off. Those who dragged and killed the girl with their car are cold-blooded murderers. They deserve the strictest punishment (sic).”

The five accused, who were in the car which hit the 22-year-old and dragged her for several kilometres on Sunday, were arrested.

Earlier, on Monday, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer District), Harendra K Singh, informed that five people had been arrested in the Kanjhawala case and a case under 304 A (death due to negligence) of the IPC was registered against them.

They were produced before a court in Delhi’s Rohini which sent them to three days of police custody for interrogation.

Deepak Dahiya, a key eyewitness in the case who runs a confectionery shop on Kanjhawala Road in Ladpur village, had earlier told ANI that the accused kept dragging the girl’s body, which got entangled under their vehicle, for 18 to 20 kilometres in a span of about one-and-a-half hours.

“It was 3:20 am…I was standing outside the shop when I heard a loud noise from a vehicle about 100 meters away. Earlier, I thought it was a tyre burst. As soon as the car moved, I saw a body being dragged. I informed the police immediately,” Dahiya had told ANI.

After some time, he said, around 3:30 am, the car took a u-turn and the lifeless body of the woman was still stuck under the vehicle. Dahiya said the accused drove repeatedly on the road of about 4-5 kilometres by taking u-turns.

“I tried to stop them many times but they did not stop the vehicle. For about one-and-a-half hours, they drove around with the girl’s body for about 20 kms,’ he had said.

Dahiya added that he also chased the car with his bike and informed the police.
After about one-and-a-half hours, the body fell from the car near Jyoti village on Kanjhawala Road, after which the accused fled, he had added.

“It could not be just an accident,” Dahiya stressed.
The police had earlier said the girl’s clothes and even the back had been scraped off.

The body was sent to the SGM hospital, Mangolpuri, where she was declared brought dead. The body was kept at the hospital’s mortuary.

Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the strictest sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) should be slapped against the perpetrators in the case.
Kejriwal added that he spoke to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and asked him to take exemplary action against the culprits.

Taking to Twitter Kejriwal said, “Spoke to Hon’ble L-G on the Kanjhawala incident. Requested him to take exemplary action against culprits, strictest sections of IPC shud be slapped against them. No leniency shud be shown even if they have high political connections. He assured me that he will take strong action.”

Meanwhile, the car was traced and the five occupants were apprehended from their houses, police said.