Delhi Police Grapple with Identity Crisis: The Curious Case of Sheetal Chaudhary

Accident – Death – Obituary News : Delhi Police Grapple with Mysterious Disappearance Case as DNA Tests Reveal Body is Not Victim’s

Delhi Police have found themselves in a perplexing situation as they continue to investigate the mysterious disappearance of 23-year-old Sheetal, whose husband reported her missing nearly three years ago. The case took an unexpected turn last month when DNA tests revealed that the highly decomposed body found in a canal near Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, is not Sheetal’s.

The saga began in January 2020 when Sheetal’s husband, Ankit Bhati, filed a missing complaint, stating that his wife had been missing since January 18, 2020. According to Ankit’s complaint, Sheetal’s parents had allegedly kidnapped her and hidden her away because they were against their marriage due to belonging to the same gotra.

A month later, the UP police informed their Delhi counterparts that a decomposed female body had been retrieved from the canal near Bulandshahr. Ankit was shown a photograph of the body and a bundle of clothes for identification, which he confirmed as belonging to Sheetal. Based on his identification, Sheetal’s father, Ravinder Chaudhary, was arrested, along with other family members, for her alleged murder.

However, the recent DNA test results have created a baffling situation for the Delhi Police. The tests revealed that the body found in the canal does not belong to Sheetal. This revelation has left the police without a victim and without any accused individuals.

Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Gogne, while granting bail to Ravinder, expressed doubts about the body’s identity. He stated that there is a strong likelihood that the body recovered from the canal is not Sheetal’s. Ankit, who made the initial identification, has not responded to requests for comment on the recent developments.

Further investigation has revealed that two bodies were recovered from the same canal on the same day. However, only one body’s samples were preserved for DNA testing. Ravinder’s lawyer, Deepak Sharma, has accused the Delhi Police of mishandling the case and making arrests solely based on Ankit’s statement without proper verification. The Delhi investigators, on the other hand, have criticized their UP counterparts for negligence, alleging that Sheetal’s body may have been switched with the other unidentified woman’s body.

The delay in obtaining the DNA test results, which took nearly two years, is attributed to the large number of pending cases and the staff shortage at the Forensic Science Lab in Delhi. The Covid-19 lockdown also contributed to the slowdown in processing the tests.

The court documents reveal that Sheetal and Ankit had a secret marriage in October 2019 at an Arya Samaj temple in Tis Hazari. The couple decided to inform their parents about the relationship, but Sheetal’s parents allegedly opposed the marriage and physically abused her. Sheetal went back home to convince her parents, and in January 2020, she informed Ankit that she would talk to them about their marriage. Their last phone conversation took place on January 18, 2020, after which Ankit filed a missing complaint.

Investigators will now scrutinize the two complaints filed by Ankit. In his first complaint, he claimed that Sheetal’s parents prevented him from meeting her, and in the second complaint, he stated that they spoke regularly until January 18, 2020.

Sheetal’s mother, Suman, denies the allegations made by Ankit and insists that they would never harm their daughter. She claims that they lost contact with Sheetal after she eloped with Ankit and emphasizes that they have suffered enough. Suman also reveals that she saw photographs of the bodies found in the canal but none of them resembled Sheetal.

The case remains shrouded in mystery as the Delhi Police continue to search for answers and determine the whereabouts of Sheetal..