After four days of investigation into the shootout case of the wife and son of Additional Session's Judge (ASJ) Krishan Kant Sharma, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) blamed instant provocation as the motive behind the incident.
The incident had taken place on Saturday when head constable Mahipal Singh (32), the personal security officer (PSO) of the judge shot his wife Ritu (38) and son Dhruv (18) at the busy Arcadia Market in Sector-49 in Gurugram.
The wife of the judge succumbed to her injuries on Saturday night, while Dhruv is still critical and under treatment at a private hospital.
Briefing the media on Wednesday morning, the SIT revealed that the incident occurred in the spur of the moment after the judge's wife and son admonished the accused PSO of being untraceable when they returned after shopping.
According to the SIT, the judge's son and wife had gone for some work along with the PSO to Arcadia Market on Saturday. When they returned, the PSO was not present near the vehicle. First, they tried to trace him and then they called him on his phone.
"When the PSO reached the spot, he was scolded up by the victims for his absence and Dhruv asked him to hand over the key. This irked the PSO and he started beating Dhruv. When judge's wife (Ritu) intervened, the SPO pulled out his service revolver and shot at the mother and son. The accused also beat up the judge's wife before shooting her," said DCP (Crime) Sumit Kuhar, adding that the PSO also tried to destroy the evidence by making an attempt to put injured Dhruv into car but failed and he fled the scene with the car.
The same was Ritu's dying declaration statement to her husband, ASJ Sharma and another judge at the hospital. Later the Judge wrote the incident in his complaint to police.
The incident had occurred between 3.20 pm and 3.30 pm last Saturday. Videos recorded by bystanders show the accused trying to haul badly injured Dhruv into the white Honda City. Later he was arrested one and a half hours from Gurugram-Faridabad road.
"The whole incident occurred in a span of 10 minutes and after committing the crime the PSO informed the judge about it. He also called up his wife Meenu to leave the city and later told his cousin Manoj to take his Aunt (bhua), mother of Mahipal at Koshli in Rewari," said Kuhar.
Kuhar said in official police record the PSO has not changed his religion. "The gunman was facing matrimonial problems and was short-tempered. He was also running two cabs with a cab aggregator company and was involved in many other things," Kuhar said.
Asked if the guard was harassed by the judge's family, Kuhar said, "it was a cold-blooded murder". "Soon after the shootout, the senior police officers of the district police visited the spot and gathered information from the eyewitness. The accused had also tried to mislead the
probe team as when another PSO of the judge called Mahipal to inquire about the car he said the vehicle had met with an accident," said the DCP.
The SIT also dismissed rumours that the accused was ill-treated by the judge or his relatives and also the reports that have reportedly claimed his conversion to Christianity. "During interrogation, Mahipal praised Judge Krishan Kant's behaviour towards him," Kuhar said adding that he was treated well and the judge treated him like a colleague.
The DCP said the security guard is mentally sound.
"His four days of police remand will come to an end on Thursday and will be produced in court. We are yet to decide whether we will seek further remand. The investigation is underway," said the DCP.
"We will urge the concerned authority that the trial of the case should be put on a fast track court so that the family gets early justice," Kuhar said. The case was filed on the complaint of Additional Session's Judge (ASJ) Krishna Kant Sharma at Sector-50 Police Station.