Nanda’s calls verified, driver’s family to approach court

NEW DELHI - Police Saturday began verifying the call records of prominent industrialist Anil Nanda and his associates as part of investigations into the suspicious death of his driver, who in his dying statement accused Nanda and his aides of setting him on fire after he protested their alleged sexual exploitation of boys.

Meanwhile, unhappy with the slow progress of the probe and alleging that police were “trying to save the accused”, driver Janeshwar Sharma’s family is planning to approach the courts for redressal.

Sharma, 45, was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital June 9 with 80 percent burns. He died a week later on June 15. Although a case of murder was registered by the police, no one has been arrested in the case so far. In his dying declaration, the former armyman made the allegations against Nanda.

Police said they are thoroughly investigating the matter. “We questioned Nanda and his associates Friday, and since this morning we are verifying all the calls made by them or to them,” a police official told IANS under condition of anonymity.

Police have also sought a CD from the CNN-IBN news channel which telecast a badly burnt Sharma making the allegations from his hospital bed. “We will be going through the CD also. We have so far questioned more than 20 people,” they said.

Sharma family’s counsel Sudhir Kumar told IANS that they are planning to file a writ petition against the industrialist and his associates and the police in the Delhi High Court. “We are in the process of preparing the petition and would file it in the court by next week,” he said.

“As the police have failed to take action on time and are trying to save the accused, we have no option but to knock on the the doors of the court,” he added.

Anil Nanda is the younger brother of Rajan Nanda, who owns Escorts Hospital. Rajan is married to Ritu, the eldest daughter of the late filmmaker Raj Kapoor. Their son Nikhil Nanda is married to Shweta, the daughter of Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.

Anil Nanda is the chairman of Akme Projects which has various projects in the national capital and also in Ludhiana, Goa and Bangalore.

In his dying declaration, Sharma had alleged that Nanda along with his business partner Jitender Pandey and manager Dheeraj Balani set him on fire when he protested against the sexual exploitation of boys at Nanda’s New Friends Colony residence. The deceased was working for over two years at Nanda’s C-12 New Friends Colony house.

After keeping silent on the matter for three days, police swung into action after the channel Thursday showed the dying driver making the allegations and after the National Human Rights Commission asked the police to submit a report on the matter.