The Delhi acid attack story has taken a shocking turn with the police investigation revealing that the entire incident was orchestrated by the girl’s father, Aqeel Khan. The 20-year-old Delhi University student was allegedly attacked with acid near Laxmi Bai College on Sunday morning (26th October).
On October 26, the girl, a BCom student enrolled in Delhi University’s Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board, had claimed that an acquaintance of hers named Jitendra and his two accomplices, Ishan and Arman, arrived on a bike. Ishan passed a bottle containing an acid-like liquid to Arman, who threw the liquid at her. She added that she tried to shield her face and suffered burns on both her hands. The girl alleged that Jitendra had been stalking her for a long time and that she had an argument with him about a month ago. The girl’s brother also made similar claims, stating that Jitendra had stalked his sister and had an argument with her.
The girl’s father Aqeel Khan accused of raping Jitendra’s wife
The incident sent shockwaves across the national capital, as an acid attack incident, that too, on the Delhi University campus, which is supposed to be a safe student area, raised questions regarding women’s safety on the campus. However, the initial shock of the incident was diluted by the shocking conspiracy revealed during the investigation of the alleged acid attack. Police found several discrepancies in the girl’s account of the alleged acid attack, and an investigation into them eventually led to the unveiling of her father, Aqeel Khan’s, vicious plan to pressure the woman, whom he is accused of raping.
During the investigation of the so-called acid attack, the Delhi Police came to know that two days before the alleged acid attack, i.e. on Friday (24th October), the accused Jitendra’s wife had filed a rape case against the girl’s father, Aqeel Khan. She had made a PCR call and informed the police that she was being blackmailed and harassed by Aqeel Khan. She said that she worked at Khan’s factory between 2021 and 2024, and during this period, he raped her and captured her obscene photos to blackmail her.
Accused were not even present around the crime scene
When police examined the CCTV of the area where the acid attack allegedly took place, no footage of the accused riding a bike was found. Moreover, the phone location, CCTV footage, and the call details of Jitendra revealed that he was present in the Karol Bagh area at the time of the alleged acid attack. The bike, which was allegedly used by the accused, was also found in Karol Bagh at that time. The location of the other two accused, Ishaan and Armaan, was found to be in Agra. The two accused are brothers, and their mother told the police that they had an old property dispute with Aqeel Khan. She added that because of the dispute, some relatives of Aqeel Khan had carried out an acid attack on them in 2018.
Two of the accused were in Agra at the time of the incident
The police did not find any CCTV footage showing the three accused together at the same time and place. Besides, no evidence of acid or the bottle was discovered by the police at the crime scene. The girl’s bag, seized by the police for examination, had a kurti inside and no acid stains. There were no acid marks on her bag. According to the police, the girl was dropped by her brother on a scooter in Ashok Vihar, and from there, she took an E-rikshaw and got off about 300 metres before the college gate. “We have CCTV camera footage and call detail records (CDRs) that challenge her statement,” said special commissioner of police (law and order) Ravindra Singh Yadav.
Aqeel Khan fabricated the acid attack story to pressure the rape victim
The entire acid attack incident was plotted by Aqeel Khan, who was nabbed by the police from Sangam Vihar on Monday (27th October), where he had been hiding after the rape case was filed against him. During interrogation, Aqeel Khan disclosed that he fabricated the whole acid attack story to implicate the three accused, Jitendra, Ishaan and Armaan, after the rape case was filed against him by Jitendra’s wife. His daughter also joined him in his lie. Khan said that burns on his daughter’s hands were caused by toilet cleaner and not acid. He added that his daughter poured the toilet cleaner, which she carried from her home, on her hands. The entire acid attack story was Khan’s conspiracy to pressure the rape victim and her family.
