Shivani murder: IPS officer goes missing

NEW DELHI: Senior IPS officer R K Sharma, the prime suspect in the Shivani murder case, went missing on Saturday with the Delhi Police failing to trace him despite conducting several raids in Panchkula, near Chandigarh, including one at his residence.
Later in the day, the police released an unsigned press release stating they expected R K Sharma to cooperate in the investigations as it had ‘‘clearly indicated the role and conspiracy was hatched by and at the behest of R K Sharma.’’
‘‘Since R K Sharma’s name has clearly surfaced as a result of these developments, it is incumbent upon him to join the investigation and cooperate with the Delhi Police,’’ the statement read.
Pradeep Sharma, who was arrested in connection with the murder and who used to work as a computer operator with Haryana Urban Development Authority, (HUDA) till two years back, was produced in the Kakardooma courts in Delhi. He was remanded to 14 days police custody. Pradeep is the second persons to be arrested in the case. The first person arrested was Sri Bhagwan.
The police told the court that Pradeep, in his disclosure statement, had confessed to the crime. ‘‘He also admitted to have picked up a camera from Shivani’s house after murdering her, which he gave to his accomplice Satyaprakash,’’ the police told metropolitan magistrate J P Narain.
‘‘We have to recover the camera and find Satyaprakash and one more person whose name is not known. Pradeep can identify the man,’’ the police told the court. Sharma will be taken to Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Haryana for further investigation.
The police also said in their application that Pradeep and Sri Bhagwan Sharma had gone to Shivani’s house on January 23, 1999. ‘‘Satyaprakash had dropped them at the house while he waited in a Maruti car,’’ said a senior police officer.
Pradeep used to help Sri Bhagwan in his real estate business. A cheating case has been registered against him at the Najafgarh police station and also in Chandigarh, the police said. ‘‘Pradeep was removed from HUDA after the authority found that he had duped several persons by selling them property which was already in somebody else’s name,’’ a police officer said.