Army Major Handa trying to mislead interrogators, still hopes to get away: Delhi Police

In police custody for four days, murder accused Major Nikhil Rai Handa has allegedly been lying and misleading his interrogators making it tough for the police to collect evidence.

Investigators have been hunting for a second knife Handa allegedly carried on the day of the crime, his clothes on which they hope to find blood stains and an umbrella belonging to the murdered woman, Shailza Dwivedi. Police are also yet to trace one of Handa’s two mobile phones.

“He told us he disposed of his clothes and the umbrella in south Delhi’s Saket after burning them. He claimed he threw the second knife at a particular spot on Ring road. But we have been unable to recover any of these objects. He has been giving incomplete information and has been lying. He still hopes to get away,” the officer said.

On Tuesday, the investigating team took Handa to the crime spot near Delhi cantonment metro station to recreate the sequence of events that led to Shailza’s death and to recover the knife, his clothes and Shailza’s belongings.

A police officer familiar with the case said that after allegedly ramming his car into Shailza, who was already stabbed in her throat and was gasping for breath, Handa ran the vehicle over her.

“As the road was leading to a residential colony, Handa took a U-turn and while fleeing again, he ran his car over Shailza to ensure she is dead. Doctors told us that she could have survived the stab wound had she not been run over by the car,” the officer said. Handa was later taken to the army base hospital where he had met Shailza.

On Monday night, the officer said, the investigating team took Handa to the shop in Gopinath bazar in Delhi cantonment from where he claimed to have purchased the knives.

The shopkeeper, however, could not identify Handa and claimed no such knives were purchased from his shop.

Police said that on Wednesday, Handa will be taken to the army’s guest house in Meerut where he had spent the Saturday night after committing the crime.

When Handa was arrested from Meerut on Sunday, he had refused to be led away like any other criminal.

“He had denied committing the crime and wanted us to accord him the respect worthy of an army Major. But he mellowed down when we confronted him with evidence. Now he has been behaving like a common criminal,” the interrogator said.