Mumbai: In a 508-page chargesheet filed by the Khar police before a Bandra magistrate court in the Jhanvi Kukreja murder case, a witness, the host of the party, has said that he had contacted Shree Jogdhankar on learning about Jhanvi’s death as Jogdhankar was her good friend and had found it strange that Shree had no reaction, as though he was already aware of it (the death).
The same witness, Yash Ahuja, also recounted in his statement how he had found Diya Padalkar, co-accused with Jogdhankar in the case, lying injured on his bed before he (Ahuja) learnt about Jhanvi’s death. He, as well as other friends and witnesses present in the room have said in their statements that Diya said she did not remember how she had sustained facial injuries and she had appeared very scared.
Similarly, Param Mogal, Shree’s friend who was not at the party, said in his statement that Shree had called him at 2.23am on January 1 and asked for a ride. When Mogal reached the spot, he saw that Shree’s shirt was blood-soaked and he had head and back injuries. When Mogal asked him what had happened, Shree had told him he did not remember.
The chargesheet also contained the statement of Parnika Narola, who had received a call from Jhanvi at 1.32am that day. Narola says that though speaking normally initially, Jhanvi had suddenly started crying. She recalls Jhanvi telling her, “Tumhe pata hai main aur Shree ek dusre ke bahut hi close friends hain, lekin party me Diya Shree ke sath kuch zyada hi physically close ho rahi hai, yeh sab kuch mujhe acha nahi lag raha hai. Main un dono ko khona nahi chahti hoon,” Narola says she had tried to placate Jhanvi, but the latter had disconnected the call.
Another witness, Gobind Arora, also called Gabba, has stated that at 2.05am he had received a missed call from Shree. When he called back, Shree had told him, “Something has happened to Jhanvi. Find her status and then cut the call.” According to Gabba’s statement, he found the call strange and had afterwards learnt about Jhanvi’s death from another friend.
Witnesses have narrated that they had seen Shree and Jhanvi kissing on the stairs and some said they had seen the duo get intimate in a secluded dark spot on the terrace. Others’ statements mention seeing Shree get physical with Diya when she lay down in an inebriated state on a mattress in the terrace by lying down on it next to her. Some witnesses have narrated having then seen Jhanvi call someone and start crying. When some of them asked her why she was crying, she refused to say anything. To one of them, she had said, “Let it be, let it go,” and walked away.
