Jyoti murder case: Experts unable to play key CCTV footage from clinic

In a fresh turn of events, the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Madhuban, has reported to the Panchkula police that the CCTV footage from the hospital where Doon MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary took Jyoti for abortion got retrieved but could not be played as they are in different format.

Jyoti, a Dalit girl of Bhunga village of Hoshiarpur, was found dead on a road in Sector 21, Panchkula, on November 22, 2012, and Chaudhary is prime accused in the case.

Chaudhary had taken Jyoti in August, 2012, to Jindal nursing home in Chandigarh for carrying out her abortion. The footage had been wiped out by the hospital authorities. It has been mentioned in the charge sheet that Chaudhary had come again to the hospital to change his name to Ramesh Kumar from Ram Kumar. Even the tower location of mobile phones of Chaudhary and Jyoti were the same on the day when he took her for abortion.

Two witnesses turn hostile

Two witnesses turned hostile during the case proceedings on Tuesday. Amarjit Singh, who owns the truck used to run over Jyoti to kill her, submitted before the court that truck did not go outside Baddi on the day of crime. He is a brother of Tilak Raj, whom the police accuse of driving the truck over Jyoti. He added that the truck was with him that day.

Another witness Lakhwinder Singh told the court that he never sold Alto car, which was used in the crime, to Paramjit alias Pamma. As per the police, Paramjit came in the Alto car on the night of crime from Baddi to Panchkula.

However, Krishan Joshi, chartered accountant of the Chaudhary family, submitted before the court that he had sold the Corolla Altis car to Dharampal. The police have also been maintaining that the car belonged to Dharampal. Jyoti was beaten inside this car after which she had gone unconscious, as per the police. “However, he could not produce any documentary evidence that he had sold the car to Dharampal,” said Amandeep Bindra, counsel for Chaudhary.

In this case, the police claim that Chaudhary was in an extra-marital relationship with Jyoti, and had killed her after she insisted for marriage. The charge sheet in this case was filed against 12 people, including the MLA, on April 3.