HT exclusive: Gurugram cops uploaded murdered man's info under wrong category on Zipnet portal

Six days after the body of a 31-year-old Delhi man was recovered in Gurugram, police uploaded his details on the Zipnet portal under the wrong category, listing him as an “Unidentified Person Found” instead of an “Unidentified Body Found”, HT learnt on Saturday.

Zonal Integrated Police Network (Zipnet) is an online platform used by police to share information on missing persons, unidentified and recovered bodies, stolen vehicles and other cases.

Yuvraj Singh Manchanda, a real estate sales professional allegedly killed by his former colleague and her partner in Gurugram, had gone missing on September 6.

Manchanda was set to get married in October and had gone to Lajpat Nagar with his sister Karishma to buy a sherwani. That was the last time Karishma saw him. After that, he headed to Gurugram “for some work related meeting”. When he didn’t return home that night, his family called him multiple times, only to receive a text from his phone the next day saying he was finalising an important deal and would call soon. This went on till September 8, when his phone was switched off.

The accused, police claimed, were texting from Manchanda’s phone. He had been shot dead on September 6. For two days, his body was in the car. On September 8, they dumped his body in a sewer in Gurugram and fled to Uttarakhand. On September 10, his body was fished out from a sewer in Gurugram and, four days later, it was allegedly cremated by Gurugram Police.

Delhi Police uploaded his missing persons details on September 11 after the family submitted a complaint.

Meanwhile, Gurugram Police entered the details of the body only on September 16 — two days after he was cremated as an unidentified person — but in the wrong section, according to the portal.

The lapse has come to light after the arrest of Manchanda’s former colleague Anya Vats and her partner Sanyam Sachdeva from Uttarakhand on Wednesday in connection with his death.

Zipnet entries

HT looked at the two entries on Zipnet uploaded by Delhi Police and Gurugram Police.

The Delhi Police entry, filed under Missing Persons, mentions the FIR number, the location in Lajpat Nagar where he was last seen, a photograph of Manchanda, the date he went missing, etc. Other major identifiers are — “Sikh”, 173 cm height, strong build, shallow complexion, normal long black hair, black shirt-blue pant, steel kada and gold ring on right hand.

The Gurugram Police entry — under Unidentified Persons Found — mentions the found date as September 10, DD entry as September 14 and report/upload date as September 16. It includes a photo of a dead body (Manchanda) lying in mud with a black shirt and long hair. Details mentioned are — male, 30-40 age, Sikh, normal build, wheatish complexion, normal long black hair, bearded, black shirt and black pant.

HT accessed photos of the recovered body, which show a watch and a kada, but these have not been included in the Zipnet form.

According to the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued under the Delhi Police’s “Duties of Police Regarding Missing Persons and Unidentified Dead-Bodies”, accessed by HT, police are required to photograph an unidentified body and the crime scene, collect evidence and upload details on Zipnet. “Hue-and-cry” notices and advertisements in local newspapers are also required. If a body remains unclaimed at a mortuary for 72 hours, police can proceed with the last rites, while belongings are required to be preserved.

Delhi Police alleged that Gurugram Police uploaded Manchanda’s details on Zipnet six days after his body was recovered and did not preserve his clothes.

Gurugram Police, however, denied the allegations. Station House Officer (SHO) of the Badshahpur police station Rajesh Bagri said details of the body were uploaded on Zipnet on September 16. The police control room was alerted about the recovery on September 10 and the information, including details of the body, was relayed to neighbouring control rooms, he added.

Family disputes police account

Manchanda’s sister Karishma, however, disputed this account. “They cremated the body on September 14… The investigators caught the accused on September 16 and they learnt that my brother was murdered on September 6 and that the body was in Gurugram. When I learnt of this, I rushed to Gurugram to collect my brother’s ashes. But after waiting at the Badshahpur police station for three hours, the police told me that the ashes had been discarded,” she said.

“In front of me, they uploaded details on Zipnet. Why did they put details on September 16? The body was found six days before! How is that possible? I am shocked,” she added.

The family on Friday had alleged that Gurugram Police destroyed all evidence, cremated him as an unidentified person and failed to preserve his belongings.

HT reported that after Manchanda was killed on September 6, the accused kept texting his family from his phone for the next two days to “mislead” them.