| Police hunt for Haryana ex-minister over Geetika suicide |
NEW DELHI Former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda, accused of abetting the suicide of his ex-employee, Geetika Sharma, remained elusive for the fourth day on Saturday despite several raids by police even as one of his relatives was questioned to help track him down.
Raids were conducted in several parts of Delhi, Haryana and Siliguri to trace Kanda but the efforts proved futile, a senior police official said. Geetika Sharma, 23, a former air hostess with Kanda’s now defunct MDLR airline, was found hanging in her flat in Delhi on Sunday.
In a suicide note found at her residence, Geetika alleged she was ending her life due to harassment by Kanda and MDLR official Aruna Chaddha. Both Kanda and Aruna have denied the allegations.
The official said they have questioned one of Kanda’s relatives to know about the whereabouts of the former minister.
Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Saturday extended by a day police custody of Chaddha to recover certain crucial documents pertaining to the deceased.
Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Khurana allowed the custodial interrogation of Chaddha till Sunday after police said the documents of an educational society formed by the MDLR group are yet to be recovered and that Geetika was the president of that society.
“Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the nature of offence and the fact that police investigation could not be completed because of holiday, I am of the considered view that one day police remand of accused is necessary for the purpose of investigation,” the court said.
Police said a camera, laptop and a phone have been recovered at her instance.
Advocate BS Rana, who appeared for Chaddha, opposed the plea saying she had been in police custody for past three days and had joined the investigations. Police told the court that she was not cooperating.
The former minister told mediapersons on Tuesday that he had got a notice from Delhi Police and would join investigations from Wednesday. He, however, did not turn up for questioning.
Geetika’s brother Gaurav alleged that his sister was being constantly mentally harassed by Kanda and Chaddha.
Kanda, who began his career as a slipper seller and later became a multi-millionaire property dealer, floated the MDLR Airline in 2007. He was elected as an Independent legislator from Sirsa constituency in the October 2009 assembly elections in Haryana and joined the Congress-led government headed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
He was made minister of state for home by Hooda despite having been named in police cases earlier.
Agencies
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