Malik is safe, and back home.
By Dileep Thekkethil
The case of the missing Noida-based fashion designer, Shipra Malik, who was found to be in Gurgaon, Haryana, after suspected of being abducted from near her house, has taken a u-turn as police took into custody her brother.
The 29-year old fashion designer went missing from the National Capital Region (NCR) on February 29 soon after calling for police help. Her car was found abandoned near her home in Noida. Her husband Chetan Malik, a local builder, filed a complaint with the police.
Police have detained Shipra’s brother after finding inconsistency in the statement provided by him. Police also added that they have found discrepancies in the statement provided by Shipra, who had come up with an abduction story that is hard to believe.
The police have also confirmed that Shipra’s family has been reeling under financial difficulties and this had badly affected the fashion designer.
Talking to the media, Meerut IG Sujeet Pandey said the fashion designer was recovered safely and the case has gone through several dramatic twists after different family members of the victim kept on changing their statements.
“When we started questioning family members, within hardly 15 minutes Shipra called around 2pm and explained her location which is Sultanpur village on Jhajjar road in Gurgaon. We are questioning family members to establish all links and soon we will come up with real picture,” the IG was quoted by The Times of India.
The police said that Shipra was recovered from Jhajjar road in Gurgaon at around 4:25 am and is safe.
“We conducted her medical examination. We are questioning her and other family members to establish the entire story,” said superintendent of police Kiran S.
The police now suspect Shipra’s brother Shivang’s involvement in the alleged kidnapping as the latter kept on changing statements during interrogation.
“We had questioned her brother Shivang. He is rapidly changing his statements. When we asked Shivang about his mobile phone. He shown us a small mobile phone. When we grilled him and based of electronic surveillance told him that he is using an IPhone 6S, then he told that that phone was at home. We dispatched a team to his home in Patel Nagar. He then told that her mother has kept mobile phone in locker. We further grilled him and then he explained that phone is with his friend in Gurgaon,” the official said.
The police later during the day took for questioning a person who was using Shivang’s iPhone and in his version he claimed Shivang had sold him that phone for Rs. 40,000.
The police have also come to know that Shivang led a lavish lifestyle and had lost his Mercedes car in betting.
“The role of some of Shipra’s maternal family members is also under the scanner,” DIG Laxmi Singh said.