Nikki Yadav murder case: Delhi court extends judicial custody of accused

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Wednesday extended the judicial custody of Nikki Yadav murder case main accused Sahil Gehlot and five others for 14 days.

The accused were produced in the court after the expiry of their custody and the Link Metropolitan Magistrate of Dwarka court extended their judicial custody till May 5.

Gehlot had allegedly strangled 23-year-old Yadav near Kashmiri Gate on February 10 and married another woman on the same day. Four days later, Yadav's body was found in a fridge at a dhaba, owned by Gehlot, in Mitraon village on the outskirts of Delhi.

The court had earlier pulled up the police for not producing the case diary of the murder and had asked the Investigation Officer (IO) to be present.

On Tuesday, the court then directed to preserve the Call Detail Record (CDR) along with the mobile location of accused, Lokesh Yadav.

Allowing a plea seeking the preservation of CDR, Link Metropolitan Magistrate Nitesh Goyal also permitted a plea for signing and pagination of the case diary by the IO.

Gehlot's father, Virender Singh, cousins Naveen (a constable in Delhi Police) and Ashish, and friends Lokesh and Amar are accused of hatching a conspiracy to get rid of Yadav, so he could go ahead with his wedding with another woman.

According to a senior police official, Gehlot was interrogated at length during police custody and disclosed that Yadav was trying to stop him from marrying someone else as they had already solemnised their marriage in 2020.

"She was pleading with him not to go ahead with the marriage fixed by his family with another girl on February 10. However, Gehlot along with his father, two cousins, and two friends hatched the conspiracy and planned to remove the deceased from their way," the official had said.

"He executed the plan and murdered her and informed other co-accused about it on the same day and then all of them went ahead with the marriage ceremony."