Geetika case: The drama behind Kanda's arrest

Former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda was finally arrested after he surrendered in a dramatic early morning appearance on Saturday, 10 days after absconding. Kanda has been accused of abetting the suicide of 23-year-old former MDLR air hostess Geetika Sharma.

Kanda appeared in a news channel van at 4 am on Saturday morning and surrendered at the Ashok Vihar police station in Delhi. While surrendering, Kanda said he did this as he was willing to help in the investigation. "Delhi police shouldn't have done this. I came here on my own will to help the investigation," Kanda said.

Earlier on Friday, Kanda's anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Delhi High Court. The Rohini Court had on Thursday issued a Non Bailable Warrant (NBW) against Kanda. The court asked the police to execute the arrest warrant by August 24.

Delhi Police had conducted over 60 searches and raids in Haryana, Goa and Siliguri in West Bengal, besides questioning around 30 people.

Before Kanda's surrender, the police arrested Gopal Kanda's brother Govind Kanda in a cheque bounce case. He may also be charged for harbouring the accused and indicated that Kanda would be arrested soon.

Here is the sequence of events from late Friday night to early Saturday morning when Kanda surrendered:

August 17, 10:00 pm: Speculation was rife that Kanda would surrender

August 17, 10.40 pm: The Delhi Police claimed Kanda will be arrested soon

August 17, 11:30 pm: Check points were set up across the district

August 17, 12:00 midnight: Kanda's brother Govind reached the police station

August 17, 12:15 am: Govind was arrested for harbouring the accused

August 17, 12:40 am: Kanda's lawyers asserted he was not absconding

August 17, 4:01 am: Kanda arrived in a UP news channel van

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Kanda, who was last seen coming out of his Gurgaon residence on August 8, was served with a notice to join investigations on August 7.

Geetika was found dead in her Delhi home on the August 5. Raids were conducted in several parts of Delhi, Haryana and Siliguri to trace Kanda but the efforts proved futile, a senior police official said.

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.

Delhi police on Sunday raided the office of the MDLR group in Gurgaon. The police team who took Aruna Chaddha along with it seized various documents and scanned computers, sources said.

Accompanied by some women police officers, the Delhi police remained at the four-storey office building at the posh Sector 15 here for more than two hours.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Sunday 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 Friday 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 (Janmashtami), 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.

Big questions:

- Why couldn't the police find a man who is so well known in Haryana?

- Why wasn't Kanda's brother detained for questioning earlier?

- Why wasn't the case handed over to specialised units like crime branch or special cell?

- Was Kanda's political clout just too strong for the city police?

(With additional information from PTI)