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Venod Sharma advised son Manu to surrender

Manu Sharma alias Siddharth Vasisth, prime accused in the murder of model Jessica Lal, surrendered today to the Delhi police at a guesthouse in Chandigarh.

Sharma, who was absconding since Friday, April 30, when Jessica was shot dead in a Delhi restaurant, was taken into custody when he came to visit his paternal uncle at the guesthouse, located in Sector 21, at 1130 IST.

Sources said Sharma telephoned his paternal uncle Vinod 'dada', who resides in nearby Panchkula, Haryana, to inquire about his father's health.

The uncle advised him to call back after some time and contacted Manu's father Venod Sharma, former Union minister of state for food and civil supplies, at the Post-Graduate Institute, where he is undergoing treatment for hypertension.

Sharma advised his brother to tell Manu to surrender.

So when Manu Sharma called his uncle again, he was told to come to the guest house.

As soon as he reached the place, a waiting police party led by Inspector (operations) Raman Lamba took him into custody.

The team, which had been camping in Chandigarh since the weekend, left soon after for Delhi with its prisoner who will be produced in court tomorrow.

Today's breakthrough followed the arrest yesterday of Amarjit Singh Gill alias Tony and Alok Khanna, both senior managers in the Coca-Cola Company, in connection with the murder.

Gill and Khanna were reportedly with Sharma at the time of the murder in the Qutab Colonnade restaurant. They have been charged under sections 212 (harbouring offenders), 202 (destruction of evidence) and 120-B (hatching conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and remanded to police custody.

But the fourth accused, Vikas Yadav alias Vikky, son of Janatantrik Bahujan Samaj Party Rajya Sabha member D P Yadav, is still absconding.

Joint Commissioner of Police (southern range) Amod Kanth, who is leading the investigation, said the presence of all four accused in the restaurant at the time of the incident has been established.

He said a police team has been sent to Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh to find Vikky Yadav and a notice issued to D P Yadav, asking him to appear for questioning.

Conceding that the MP was in the capital, but has not responded to the notice, Kanth said, "We are sure we will be able to talk to him."

UNI

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