The Pick up...............

Geeta Chopra was a 16½-year-old 2nd year student in the Jesus and Mary College, New Delhi. Her brother, Sanjay, was 14-year-old student in the 10th standard of the Modern School. Their father, Madan Mohan Chopra, was a captain in the Indian Navy. They lived in the Officer's Enclave in Dhaula Kuan.

On Saturday 26 August 1978, Geeta and Sanjay were supposed to participate in a radio programme called the Yuva Vani on All India Radio. They were to reach the All India Radio office on the Sansad Marg by 7 pm. Their father was supposed to pick them up outside the All India Radio after programme at 9 pm.

The siblings left their house at 6:15 pm. A man, Kula Nand saw them at the roundabout at Dhaula Kuan. A man named M. S. Nanda gave the children a lift from Dhaula Kuan to Gole Dak Khana as it was drizzling

At 6:30 pm, Bhagwan Dass had noticed a mustard colour Fiat car, while traveling from Gurudwara Bangla Sahib towards North Avenue, near the yoga ashram at Gole Dak Khana. He heard noises coming from the car, so he stopped his scooter and approached the vehicle. He saw a girl pulling the hair of the driver and a boy fighting the passenger by the driver. Dass could not stop the car and it sped away towards Willingdon Hospital. Several other people had tried to stop the car. One man named Babu Lal, dropped his bicycle and tried to grab the door handle of the car, but failed. Dass reported this to the police. At 6:45 pm, he called the police control room and told them the license number of the car.  Dass also reported that the girl was screaming for help.

At 8 pm, their parents tuned in to the radio to listen to their children on the programme, but another girl had been given the slot. The parents assumed that they had tuned in to the wrong station or that the programme had been cancelled. Their father took his scooter from home at 8:45 pm to reach the radio office. He did not find his children at the appointed place. He was told at the office that the children did not arrive. The father called home to ask if the children had reached home; their mother replied in the negative. Their father returned home and called his relatives and friends to ask if the children were with them.

At 10:15 pm, the father called the police and gave them the descriptions of the children. The father searched places where the children might have possibly gone to, including the Willingdon Hospital and returned home at 11:30 pm.

The bodies were discovered by a cowherd, Dhani Ram, grazing his cows in Delhi Ridge on 28 August 1978, at 6 pm. The cowherd reported the bodies to a patrolling constable, Rohtas Singh, at 12:00 am. Sub-inspector Hari Chand was sent to the site. The parents were called to the site to identify the bodies. They identified them as their children

The autopsy was conducted by the police surgeon, Bharat Singh, on 29 August. He found the bodies to be in an advanced stage of decomposition. He could not establish sexual assault of the girl due to the decomposition. He found multiple stab wounds and a broken jaw on the girl. He confirmed multiple stab wounds on the boy.

The story got much media attention in India. Then-Prime Minister Morarji Desai took personal interest in the case. The Janata Party, which was in power in 1978 Delhi, was criticised for their handling for the case. They lost the subsequent election.

Stay Tuned for the end......................................................

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***