Day After Judge’s Wife Dies, Gurugram Shooter’s Mother Questioned

The judge’s guard, Mahipal’s mother and cousin have been detained for interrogation by the SIT.

The investigation team at the spot of the indicent.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@RakeshTrickey) 

As part of the investigation in the case that saw the wife and son of a additional sessions judge get shot in Gurugram, the accused’s mother and cousins have been called in for interrogation on Monday, 15 October.

The incident took place on Saturday, 13 October, when the judge’s wife and son were allegedly gunned down by their personal security guard at Gurugram’s Arcadia Market.

The judge’s wife succumbed to her injuries, officials said on Sunday. The judge’s son, Dhruv, who was shot in the head, has been declared brain dead, and is on life support at Gurugram’s Medanta hospital.

Additional Sessions Judge Krishan Kant’s wife Ritu (45) and son Dhruv (18) were shopping in the crowded market on Saturday, 13 October, accompanied by the judge’s guard, Mahipal Singh. The incident reportedly occurred around 3:30 pm when the duo was shot at.

Mahipal Singh was taken to a Gurugram court at 1 pm on Sunday, which sent him to four-day police custody.

The Gurugram police had sought a week's custody for extensive interrogation of Mahipal Singh to establish the motive behind shooting Ritu and Dhruv.

It has set up a Special Investigation Team to investigate the case from all angles.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, on Sunday, called for a meeting with the State Home Secretary and Haryana DGP over the shooting. He also ordered for counselling of personal security officers deputed with VVIPs, reported ANI.

The police have not ascertained the motive behind the shooting yet.

Shooter Mentally Sound: Gurugram Police Spokesperson

After initial interrogation of the accused, police officers said Mahipal Singh (32) was a Haryana police head constable and was serving as personal security guard of the judge for the past two years. He had been asking for leave to go home for the past a few days but it was not granted. This might have led to him suffering from depression, the officers said.

"The judge also used to scold him often," one of the interrogating officers said.

However, the spokesperson of Gurugram police Subhash Boken said that the mental condition of the accused seemed stable and the reports of him being mentally unstable were just rumours, HT reported.

Mahipal even termed Ritu and Dhruv as ‘Devils’ during the interrogation. He told police that he was ill treated by the judge’s son, who used to make him do his personal errands.

Singh lived with his wife, two daughters and mother.

An earlier HT report said Mahipal used to be on the internet for ‘four to six hours’, citing police sources. The report also said he had been ‘disturbed’ for the past month and a half, and had apologised to the judge twice for his behavior.

During interrogation, the accused reportedly said he was “irritated as he was asked to take them to the market and he did not like doing household chores,” the Hindustan Times had quoted Gurugram Police Commissioner KK Rao.

(With inputs from NDTV, PTI and The Hindustan Times)