By Subhash K Jha
MUMBAI: In December 2012 Sandhya Pandit, the 50-year old sister of singers Sulakshana and Vijayta Pandit and their three brothers composers Mandheer, Jatin and Lalit Pandit, went missing and was soon discovered murdered.
The case has taken a bizarre turn with Sandhya’s only son Raghuveer being the prime suspect.
With the boy allegedly into drugs and on the run, the cops are zeroing in on Raghuveer for his imminent arrest.
However Lalit Pandit speaking on behalf of the family gives Rahuveer the benefit of the doubt.
Speaking exclusively to this writer, Lalit says, “It couldn’t have been done by Raghuveer, at least not alone. Even the police think the crime was not a one-man deed. I know one thing about Raghuveer in my heart. He may be a bum, a compulsive liar and a junkie. But he is not capable of committing such a heinous crime in such detail.”
Apparently, though Raghuveer is the chief suspect his movements at the suspected time of his mother’s murder do not match with hers.
Says Lalit, “The police are baffled.They have verified Raghuveer’s complete movement. But it doesn’t match with Sandhya’s movement. However Raghuveer may know something important. Even if he has not committed the crime he needs to answer some vital questions to nab our sister’s killer.”
The Pandit family is at the end of its patience, having waited 10 months for the killer to be apprehended.
Lalit’s eldest sister former singer-actress Sulakshana Pandit, who is of frail mental health and who lives with her youngest sister Vijayta and her husband composer Aadesh Shrivastava, is still in the dark about her sister’s murder.
The Pandits only want a convincing closure to the heinous crime.
Lalit says the deceased woman’s husband, an Indore-based bureaucrat Jaiprakash Singh, is also a suspect. “Both father and son knew that at some stage they’d have to face investigation.Our family discussed it many times. In fact the police had intimated to us that they’d have question Jaiprakash and Raghuveer for Sandhya’s murder.”
Says Lalit, “My family and I want a thorough investigation into whoever the police thinks to be a suspect , be it Sandhya Didi’s son or anyone else. We want Raghuveer to be fully interrogated .We pray that he is not guilty. But we knew at some point both Raghuveer and his father, our murdered sister’s husband, would have to face investigation. And now, that is what is happening.”
