A court in New Delhi allowed the Delhi Police on Monday to quiz Sahil Gehlot, accused of killing his girlfriend Nikki Yadav and stuffing her body into a refrigerator in southwest Delhi, for two more days to unravel the case.
Meanwhile, the investigating officer (IO) informed the court that the identity of the priest who solemnised the marriage between the accused and the victim in October 2020 was ascertained and 'verified'.
Besides extending Gehlot's police custody by two days, the link court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samiksha Gupta remanded the other five co-accused in the case in judicial custody for 14 days.
The IO had sought a three-day extension of Gehlot's custodial interrogation.
The officer informed the court that information about the alleged murder committed on February 10 was received four days later, following which Gehlot was arrested and the victim's body found at his instance.
During interrogation, Gehlot revealed the route he had taken with the victim in a car on the fateful day, the IO said.
The route covered places such as Nizamuddin, Anand Vihar, Nigambodh Ghat and finally, the "dhaba" (eatery) of the accused in Mitraon village, he added.
The officer said the route taken by Gehlot was "verified" and cross-checked with the help of CCTV footage.
'The accused went to the victim's house around 1 am (on February 10) and came out of her house at 6 am. We have the CCTV footage of Gehlot coming out of Yadav's house,' the IO told the court.
During the investigation, it came to light that Gehlot had secretly married Yadav in October 2020 and the victim was asking the accused to get a social sanction for the marriage, the IO said, adding that the identity of the priest who solemnised the marriage has been ascertained and 'verified'.
Meanwhile, Gehlot's family was pressuring him to marry a woman of its choice and his engagement was fixed on February 9, he said.
"Why do you want three days of police custody when you have identified the route and the priest?" the magistrate asked the IO.
To this, the officer said certain aspects related to the probe, including a part of the route taken by the accused on the fateful day, remain to be verified.
The court then allowed two days of custodial interrogation of the accused.
Gehlot will now be produced before the court on February 22.
Last Tuesday, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Archana Beniwal had remanded Gehlot (24) in five days' police custody.
Gehlot's father Virender Singh, cousins Naveen and Ashish and friends Lokesh and Amar were sent to police custody last Friday after they were produced before a duty magistrate.
Police had said the five co-accused were arrested after their roles in the killing of Yadav were ascertained.
Police had initially said Gehlot, after being arrested on February 14, had confessed to killing Yadav as she was pressuring him to marry her.
In a twist in the case, police subsequently said Yadav was Gehlot's wife and the couple had tied the knot in 2020.
According to a top Delhi Police officer, Yadav was opposed to the impending marriage of Gehlot that his family had fixed.
Gehlot killed Yadav after he could not convince her to allow him to go ahead with the wedding.
