The three men who allegedly murdered realtor Deepak Bhardwaj at his farmhouse last month were produced at the Patiala House Courts Complex here on Tuesday where a Metropolitan Magistrate remanded them to 10 days in police custody.
Seeking the custody of the three men -- two alleged shooters Sunil Mann and Purushottam Rana, and Amit who was purportedly driving the vehicle – the Delhi Police told the court that their remand was pivotal to unearthing the conspiracy and establishing the motive behind the murder.
The prosecution also added that the firearms used by the two alleged assailants were provided by one Raju, who, along with other possible co-accused, has to be traced. For this, the police said they might need to conduct raids with the help of the accused in their custody.
An application seeking the permission to carry out a test identification parade of the three accused was also moved in the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Prashant Sharma which was marked to Metropolitan Magistrate Jasjeet Kaur. The three accused, however, refused to undergo the exercise and when Ms. Kaur asked them for the reason for the refusal they told the court that their pictures were already available with the police.
The magistrate cautioned the three that the refusal could be taken against them in future proceedings but the trio reiterated their earlier stand.
For his part, the defence counsel of Purushottam and Sunil sought that while the two are in police custody, their medical examination should be conducted after every 12 hours and that they be allowed to meet their lawyers at the same interval. Refusing to pass a blanket order on this issue, the court noted that the compliance of such a request could be difficult if the police are travelling with the accused.
It is learnt that during interrogation by the police, Purushottam revealed that one “Swami” had contacted them and had allegedly paid them to murder Mr. Bhardwaj. It is, however, not clear whether the “Swami” he mentioned was a godman or an individual.
The police suspect that the contract to kill the slain businessman passed through a chain of sub-contracts and the person referred to as “Swami” was an intermediary between the alleged shooters and the main conspirator(s), and thus his arrest could lead to unravelling the links.
Earlier, a commercial pilot whose name cropped up during the interrogation was let off after questioning as no evidence was found against him. Sources also said that the arrested persons were often changing their statements and this was adding to the confusion.