Bail plea rejected, look-out notice for Kanda

Even as the anticipatory bail petition of the fugitive former Haryana Minister, Gopal Goyal Kanda, in the Geetika Sharma suicide case was rejected by a sessions court here on Thursday, the Delhi Police issued a look-out circular against him to prevent his escape from the country.

Aruna Chaddha, an aide of Mr. Kanda who was arrested on Wednesday, was remanded in police custody for two days by another court. The police sought her remand, citing lack of cooperation on her part.

“The allegations against Kanda are grave and serious… There are allegations of calls being made from other phone [by the accused] and SMSes have been sent to her. All this is required to be investigated thoroughly,” said Additional Sessions Judge Rajnish Bhatnagar. “The investigation is at a very initial stage and release of the accused [Mr. Kanda] would hamper the investigation.”

Mr. Kanda’s counsel K.T.S. Tulsi argued that the suicide note did not show that his client had instigated Geetika to kill herself. The note only showed that her relationship with him had “an element of jealousy and mixed emotions of love and hatred.”

The Delhi Police opposed the bail plea, saying Mr. Kanda and Aruna Chaddha were pressuring Geetika to return to MDLR.

Additional Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan said Geetika was also accorded out-of-turn promotions at MDLR without good reason. He also pointed to the circumstances under which she lost her job in the UAE, arguing that this was done to coerce her to join MDLR.

The prosecution said it was examining the authenticity of an e-mail recovered from Geetika’s laptop containing letters from the Indian Consulate and other authorities in Dubai, relating to extradition proceedings initiated against her, on account of her financial liability to a Dubai-based person.

Although Geetika’s family members expressed full faith in the judicial process, they demanded that the probe be expedited and Kanda be arrested immediately.

According to the police, Mr. Kanda has not yet contacted them and raids are being conducted to track him down. Suspecting that he will try to flee the country, they have issued a lookout-circular and alerted the airports across the country.