The Rajouri Garden acid attack victim trusted the main accused, Ashok Yadav, to an extent that she even threatened to withdraw her complaint on merely learning about a probe into his possible role, said the police.
“Unaware of his intentions all along and oblivious of his role even after the attack, when the victim learnt that we were interrogating Ashok, she told us that she had complete faith in him and that we should not trouble him unnecessarily,” said a police officer, who probed the case.
Delhi resident Ashok and the victim, who hails from Hoshiyarpur, Punjab, had known each other since their days as medical students.
“During interrogation, Ashok told us that he had feelings for the victim but never expressed it to her. When he learnt that she was getting engaged, he decided to teach her a lesson,” said the officer.
Asked if he had changed his behaviour towards the girl since her engagement, and whether he had expressed his disapproval or unhappiness over the development, the police answered in the negative.
The officer said that they zeroed in on Dr. Yadav since the robbery appeared stage-managed. The police teams started questioning the victim’s friends and colleagues to determine whether she had any personal enmity or if anyone held a grudge against her.
“We also accessed her call details which revealed that she frequently spoke to Ashok. Probe also revealed that he was upset after learning her marriage plans. Piecing together these clues, we called him for questioning,” said the officer.
The officer said that after rushing the victim to the hospital, the accused had met his accomplice Vaibhav and the two juveniles hired to carry out the attack.
“After committing the crime, they assembled at a park in the locality and hid the bag snatched from the victim,” said the officer.
