Ponty Chadha case: post-mortem reports handed over to police

Delay causes inconvenience in reconstructing sequence of events

Monty Chadha, son for Ponty Chadha, outside the AIIMS mourtary, in New Delhi on November 18,2012. Photo: Sandeep Saxena

The delay in the post-mortem reports of Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep, who were killed in a fierce exchange of fire at a farmhouse in Chhattarpur here on November 17, has caused inconvenience to the police in reconstructing the sequence of events leading up to the murders. The reports were handed over to the police late on Wednesday, three days after the post-mortems were conducted.

According to police sources, the post-mortem reports were delivered in the evening. “We are going through the findings which would be examined in view of the disclosures made by the witnesses, including Sukhdev Singh Namdhari and his former personal security officer Sachin Tyagi,” said a police officer, adding that efforts were still being made through the forensic experts to gather evidence from the scene of crime.

While senior police officers remained tight-lipped over the details, it is learnt that the doctor who conducted the post-mortems has concluded that Ponty had sustained seven bullet injuries, four of which were found lodged in his body and his brother had reportedly sustained two bullet injuries. The findings would come as a relief to Mr. Namdhari’s security officer as it would apparently back his claim that he had fired in self-defence.

Earlier on Sunday, the doctors conducting post-mortem on Ponty Chadha’s body at All-India Institute of Medical Sciences allegedly committed a blunder when they left some bullets inside his body. It was an X-ray of his body which made them realise that they had not removed the bullets. The body had by then been handed over to the family and it had to be recalled for the second round of post-mortem.

The doctors were then in a dilemma as to how many bullets had hit Ponty Chadha as there were apparently 13 entry and exit wounds. It was after much deliberation that the reports were finally submitted.

“The reports are also of significance to us because they have to be sent along with the bullet-tips and other articles to the forensic science laboratory for ballistic analysis and other necessary examinations. While the bullets were handed over to the investigating officer that day itself, we had to wait for the reports. They would also play a crucial role in reconstructing the crime scene,” said the officer.