MURDERED ST STEPHEN’S DOC’S KIN WANT SPEEDY PROBE

NEWDELHI: Eight months after St. Stephen’s Hospital doctor Shashwat Pande was murdered, his family questioned the delay in arresting the absconding accused, Suyash Gupta.

Despite the victim’s family making several trips to Delhi from Allahabad over the past few months and repeatedly meeting police officers during their trips, Delhi Police have not been able to make any breakthrough, they said.

Last week, the case was transferred to Delhi Police Crime Branch from North District as the local police failed to arrest the Gupta. A colleague of the doctor, Gupta has been missing since August 24, 2017, the day Pandey was murdered in the hospital premises.

During a press meet on Thursday, Pande’s mother Shalini Pande and other relatives said the family thought the step was too little, too late and the family had little to be optimistic.

“These assurances have been given to us in the past too. We met the Delhi Police Commissioner before this press conference and he said the exact things about transferring the case to Crime Branch as he had done immediately after the murder. We want justice, how long will we have to wait?,” asked Pande’s aunt Shubhra Phillip.

Special commissioner of police (crime) R.P. Upadhyay said the files had been recently sent to them and an SIT had been formed to take up the probe. He, however, said that so far there was no clue about Gupta.

Another police officer said, the likelihood of Gupta having crossed over to Nepal and fled out of the country was not ruled out.

LAST WEEK, THE CASE WAS TRANSFERRED TO DELHI POLICE CRIME BRANCH FROM NORTH DISTRICT