Now, Kanda slapped with charges under IT Act

Fresh charges have been lodged against former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda under the Information Technology Act in the Geetika Sharma suicide case, police said on Tuesday.

Kanda, chairman and managing director of MDLR Group – who is accused of hounding his employee Geetika to death – now faces charges of allegedly sending messages through communication service which contained grossly offensive information and had a menacing character.

He is already booked for abetment to suicide and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code.

The fresh charges come over allegations that Kanda had sent a letter to Emirates Airlines after Geetika left MDLR Group and shifted to Dubai in 2009.
In the letter, he had stated that she was absconding after defaulting on a loan and her track record at her previous company was not good.

The note was written on the official letterhead of a Gurgaon Police station house officer. Geetika was terminated by Emirates Airlines over the letter which forced her to return to Delhi and rejoin MDLR Group. According to Geetika’s family, she had quit MDLR Group after being harassed by Kanda.

Delhi Police were verifying the authenticity of the letter and were also in possession of copies of threatening emails which, according to Geetika’s family, were sent to her by Kanda from different IDs.

It was also claimed that Kanda and and his associate Aruna Chaddha had visited Geetika when she was in Dubai. During this period, they are suspected to have compelled her to leave Emirates Airlines.
 
Cops have further denied speculations that they would conduct brain mapping and narco-analysis test on Kanda. According to Dharmender Kumar, special commissioner of police (law and order), investigation has unearthed enough evidence to prove charges framed against the 46-year-old minster.

“Brain mapping and narco-analysis test are conducted when an accused does not cooperate with police. In this case, we have clear evidence to prove allegations against Kanda,” he added.

Kumar also maintained that ever since Kanda was arrested on August 18, police have been able to seize laptops, personal computers, hard disks, mobile phones and documents after raids at Gurgaon and Sirsa districts of Haryana, which were being considered as vital evidence.

On being asked if the delay in Kanda’s arrest led to destruction of evidence, Kumar said it was not the case. “If we had arrested him on day one, he would have got bail on the grounds of lack of evidence. Then media would have hounded us. We collected evidence and arrested him,” he said.

After three days in custody, police said Kanda has been cooperating with investigators, but seems to be speaking on the advice of his lawyers.
Investigators are now banking on confronting Kanda and Chaddha on the same table to ascertain the exact chain of events leading to Geetika’s suicide.