NEW DELHI: On the night of September 30, 2008, television journalist Soumya Vishwanathan was found in an unconscious state inside her car on Nelson Mandela Marg in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj. She was taken by a PCR vehicle to AIIMS Trauma Centre where she was declared as brought dead.
Initially, it appeared to be a case of road accident but medical examination revealed that she had a bullet injury on her head. It seemed to be a dead-end case as there was no evidence. The police scanned everything and questioned probable suspects, but remained clueless for months.
Six months later, on the intervening night of March 17-18, 2009, four criminals were again roaming around the CPWD colony in Vasant Vihar, wanting to strike again, when they spotted another woman. “Suddenly, they noticed that a cab had dropped a woman who was talking to somebody on her mobile phone for a long time.
Perceiving her as an easy target, Baljeet and Ravi Kapoor went near her on the pretext of enquiring about an address and later overpowered her and kidnapped her,” read the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police 15 years ago, a copy of which was accessed by this newspaper. They took the woman, Jigisha Ghosh, along with them in their car, robbed her of her belongings and later smothered her to death, as per the 2016 court order convicting them.
They dumped her body on the roadside near Surajkund-Faridabad road. On March 24, the prime accused, Ravi Kapoor was arrested along with his associates. It was their confession during the interrogation in the murder case that eventually solved the mystery behind the murder of Soumya Vishwanathan. “In his confession, he disclosed that on September 30, 2008, he along with his associates had a drink and dinner party at the residence of Amit.
Thereafter, they went to AIIMS area and later on to PVR Vasant Vihar. When they were standing near PVR Vasant Vihar, they noticed Soumya driving her car at a slow speed,” the chargesheet read. “They started following her and tried to talk to her to commit robbery. As Soumya did not talk and kept driving, they overtook her and in a fit of rage, Ravi Kapoor shot at her,” the chargesheet read.
Earlier in the day, the court convicted Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ajay Kumar of an organised crime syndicate for her murder and also under provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), saying the charges against them are “duly proved beyond all reasonable doubt”.
SOUMYA VISHWANTHAN CASE: CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
SEP 30, 2008 Vishwanathan shot dead. Police claim robbery as the motive
MARCH 2009 Police recover weapon used in the killing of IT executive Jigisha Ghosh
MARCH 28, 2009 Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, Ajay Kumar and Ajay Sethi arrested for killing Vishwanathan
JUNE 22, 2009 First chargesheet filed against accused
FEB 6, 2010 Charges framed against the accused under IPC sections
APR 23, 2010 Trial begins, prosecution starts submitting evidence
MAY 9, 2011 Charges framed against the accused under the MCOCA
FEB 2019 Malik moves the Delhi HC with a plea for a speedy trial
FEB 6, 2019 Vishwanathan’s parents approach Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for a speedy trial
FEB 27, 2019 The Delhi HC directs the trial court to hear the matter at least thrice a week
MARCH 2022 Prosecution completes submitting evidence. Court begins recording the evidence of the accused
OCT 6, 2023 Final arguments by the defence and prosecution conclude
OCT 13, 2023 Court reserves its verdict
OCT18, 2023 Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ajay Kumar convicted for murder and under MCOCA provisions. Ajay Sethi convicted for dishonestly receiving stolen property and under MCOCA sections
OCT 26 COURT LIKELY TO PASS ORDER ON SENTENCE
