Hyderabad police probing the suspected honour killing of Neeraj Panwar (22), who was hacked to death by his wife Sanjana’s cousins at Begum Bazaar on May 20, said that a total of nine persons were involved in the case, and so far they have arrested seven.
“Two more persons who were involved in the conspiracy, are yet to be arrested. Our teams are looking for them,” a senior officer associated with the investigation of the case told The Hindu, adding that the names of nine persons were cited in the remand report.
Initially, police suspected that only six persons were involved in the conspiracy to eliminate Neeraj, however, during the course of the investigation they came across three more names who directly helped the prime accused Abhinanadan Yadav alias Nandan (26) from Kolsawadi, Begum Bazar in the conspiracy. “They have knowledge about the murder plan,” he said.
While four persons were arrested on May 21, a day after the brutal murder, near Gurumitkal in Yadgir district of Karnataka, and a few days later Abhinandan was arrested. “Recently, we arrested one Prashanth, who played a key role in the conspiracy. He was the one who tracked the movements of the victim and recced his house for days before they resorted to the extreme step,” the officer said.
Denying the reports that one of the accused got engaged to Sanjana before she got married to Neeraj against the wishes of her family members, he said “The guy who got engaged to Sanjana was a good friend of Abhinandan. That had added to his vengeance. However, the boy moved on and got married to another woman. He has no role in this murder.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police D. Joel Davis said that they were collecting the evidence and took police custody of the accused persons so that they can file the charge-sheet within 45 days or in less than two months.
Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police C.V. Anand on Monday met the bereaved family members of Neeraj and expressed deep grief. He assured them of stringent action against the murderers by ensuring expeditious investigation and trial in the case.
As the incident triggered a mild tension between the two communities, Mr Anand conveyed a meeting with the elders of both communities at Shahinayatgunj Police Station and told them to stop targeting each other and to end up the savage practice of resorting to attacks on inter-faith couples.
“The scourge of so-called honour killings is a threat to humanity and love. These heinous crimes destroy the happiness, wealth and future of both families. Apart from law enforcement agencies, it is high time civil society and organisations work to bring out a substantial change in the thinking of the ignorant groups to mitigate this evil in course of time,” he said.
The officer assured to liaison with court officials to expedite the trials through fast track court and ensure conviction is achieved at the earliest.
