Kin asked Sahil Gehlot to 'get rid of’ Nikki Yadav on his engagement day: Cops

Citing claims made by the six accused – Gehlot, his father, two cousins and two friends -- police officials offered details that suggest a far greater complicity of the prime accused’s family.

Two common friends and a leaked photo blew the lid off Sahil Gehlot’s plan to marry a second woman for his first wife Nikki Yadav, who threatened to show up at the wedding, police said on Sunday, adding that this prompted the Gehlots to decide to “take care of the problem” – a decision that ended in 22-year-old Yadav’s murder.

Nikki Yadav learned about Sahil Gehlot’s engagement with another woman through a common friend.) (PTI)

Citing claims made by the six accused – Gehlot, his father, two cousins and two friends -- police officials offered details that suggest a far greater complicity of the prime accused’s family, who participated in a full-fledged wedding mere hours after Yadav was murdered and her body stowed away in the family’s restaurant.

“Yadav learned about Gehlot’s engagement with another woman on February 9 through a common woman friend, who was not present at the engagement ceremony but was informed about it by another common friend, a man. The man sent a photo from the ceremony, which the woman forwarded to Yadav,” said one of the officers aware of the investigation.

Yadav received the photo of the ceremony while it was still underway on February 9. “Yadav began calling Gehlot on his cellphone but he did not answer at first. Gehlot panicked when Yadav texted her that she would reach the wedding venue (the wedding was scheduled the next day) and expose him. Gehlot then called back Yadav and told her he was coming to meet her and explain everything,” the officer said, asking not to be named.

It was at this point that Gehlot told his family about the Yadav’s threat. “Gehlot’s father, Virendra Singh; his two cousins, Ashish Kumar and Naveen Kumar, who is a constable in Delhi Police, and two friends, Lokesh Singh and Amar Singh, held a brief meeting at the engagement venue, a banquet hall in Mitraon village, and asked him to leave while they decided to look after the guests and kept them busy,” the officer said.

Gehlot then met Yadav late at night on February 9, murdered her around 9am on February 10 in the parking lot of Delhi’s Nigambodh Ghat crematorium, drove more than 40km to his family-owned restaurant in north-west Delhi’s Najafgarh, and left the body in the trunk to return home to marry another woman later in the evening.

The officer quoted above added that the motive behind the family’s decision to silence Yadav was to avoid “any harm to their social reputation”.

The information is based on the interrogation of the accused and while not adequate for a conviction itself, it will offer crucial basis for other evidence that will help corroborate this sequence of event.

Detailing the crucial hours between the engagement and the murder, the officer quoted above said: “Gehlot changed his clothes and left the engagement venue for Yadav’s flat in Uttam Nagar in Ashish’s Hyundai Verna car. While driving around the city with Yadav, Gehlot was frequently receiving calls from the five family members and friends for updates. After strangling Yadav with a around 9am, Gehlot informed one of his two friends about it. The friend in turn informed other co-conspirators about it,” said the officer.

A second officer, who asked not to be named, said that it was on Gehlot’s father’s directions that his two cousins and two friends left the Mitraon village home to meet him on the way. “They met Gehlot in Paschim Vihar and followed the Verna with Yadav’s body buckled in on the front passenger seat to the family-owned dhaba. Gehlot’s father remained at home as he had to take care of the guests and his son’s pre-wedding rituals,” the officer said.

“Virendra Singh deliberately stayed back so that guests and villagers did not become suspicious. Since Gehlot was urgently required for pre-wedding rituals at home, the conspirators deferred their plan to dispose of the body,” the second officer said.

“Although, the five family members and friends are claiming they were not present at the dhaba when the body was stuffed into the refrigerator, we have reasons to believe that some of them were there. To establish their role, we are collecting technical evidence such as the location of their cellphones,” the first officer said.

The investigators quoted above said that it was a leaked photo that brought to light Gehlot’s plan to marry a second woman for the victim Yadav, who married Gehlot in October, 2021.

On Sunday, a crime branch team took Gehlot to the Arya Samaj temple in Greater Noida where the couple had secretly tied the knot. Their wedding was solemnised following signatures by at least two witnesses – one from each side. The two witnesses have been identified as friends of the couple, the police said.