Aruna Chadha, an aide of the former Haryana Minister of State for Home Gopal Kanda, was arrested by Delhi Police on Wednesday in connection with the alleged suicide of the former MDLR Airlines flight attendant Geetika Sharma at her Ashok Vihar residence here earlier this week. The police have launched a hunt for Mr. Kanda as he failed to present himself for questioning in the case.
“We have arrested Ms. Chadha for allegedly abetting the suicide of 23-year-old Geetika along with Mr. Kanda. She had joined investigations on Tuesday, following which we questioned her to ascertain her role,” said a police officer. During the two-day-long grilling session, it is alleged that Ms. Chadha did not give satisfactory replies or provide plausible clarification for many of the questions raised by the police and the allegations made by Geetika’s family, following which she was arrested.
Mr. Kanda, owner of the MDLR group, was on Tuesday issued notice by the police to join investigations. However, when he did not turn up on Wednesday, a team was dispatched to his residence in Haryana to question him. However, he was not found there. Suspecting that he had gone underground to evade arrest, the police have formed several teams to trace the prime accused.
“We have so far questioned ten persons in the case. Statements of Geetika’s parents and her brother Ankit were recorded before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code today [Wednesday],” said the officer.
Another employee of Mr. Kanda, Mandeep, was summoned by the police for questioning on Wednesday after they learnt that three mobile phone numbers used to make frequent calls to Geetika and her family members were registered in his name. It is learnt that Mandeep, who is an executive in the MDLR group, offered full cooperation in the investigations and disclosed that the numbers under scrutiny were allegedly used by Mr. Kanda to ring up Geetika and her family.
In the First Information Report, Geetika’s mother Anuradha had alleged that on Saturday — hours before her daughter hanged herself — she had called up Mr. Kanda to enquire about some papers which according to Ms. Chadha were to be signed by Geetika.
However, Mr. Kanda did not answer the call and later contacted Anuradha from another number.
The police have got Mandeep’s statement recorded before a court here to ensure that it can be used as evidence. “Mandeep is a witness in the case,” said the officer, indicating imminent arrest of the MDLR group owner. Some documents have also been seized by the police from the Gurgaon office of MDLR.
The police said they have so far not come across anything incriminating against Ankit Ahluwala, MDLR’s legal adviser who according to Geetika’s family had rung her up a day before she ended her life. Mr. Ahluwala was also questioned along with Ms. Chadha to ascertain his role.
Geetika’s family has alleged that she took the extreme step as she was being coerced into re-joining the MDLR subsidiary where she was previously posted as a director. In her suicide note, the former flight attendant also alleged that Mr. Kanda and Ms. Chadha had ruined her life and were harassing her family.
