Doc murder case: Allahabad HC directs IO to produce evidence by Feb 13

Moradabad: After the UP police failed to arrest accused in the Shelly Mehrotra murder case, Mehrotra’s counsel Sajeev Raghav told TOI that the daughter of the deceased, Dr Gunjan Arora, filed a petition against police officials who failed to arrest offenders even after more than four years of the incident. The Allahabad high court on January 10, 2019, directed the investigating officer (IO) to produce all scientific evidences and call details of the five murdered in May 2014.

The bench of Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Vivek Varma directed the IO to produce call details of the deceased family and their relatives. They also directed the IO to mention the call details of those relatives who were present near Mehrotra’s residence on that day.

According to police, on the intervening night of May 14 and 15 in 2014, unidentified assailants had gained entry into Mehrotra’s house and murdered four members of her family. The deceased included 60-year-old Shelly Mehrotra, her 65-year-old husband Om Mehrotra, 50-year-old sister-in-law Lakshmi and the doctor’s five-year-old granddaughter Devanshi. While the first three were found with their throats slit, the five-year-old had been smothered with a pillow, cops said. Cash and jewellery were also found missing from the house.

The HC observed that the incident took place in a locality surrounded by several houses. Therefore, the neighbours could be interrogated. The earlier records do not mention whether finger prints were obtained from the spot along with blood samples/hair, etc.

A progress report along with the affidavit was filed by Moradabad’s deputy SP Vishal Yadav stating that to investigate the matter eight teams were constituted, several witnesses were examined and 138 mobile numbers were put on surveillance, still the culprits could not be nabbed.

The bench comprising of Justices Manoj Misra and Vivek Varma gave another opportunity to the IO to work on the case and file a compliance report along with the call records and various evidences gathered in Mehrotra’s house till February 13, 2019.