Chandigarh/Gurgaon, July 23
The Haryana Government today decided to refer the Geetanjali murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) even as the Gurgaon police probed the role of one of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Ravneet Garg’s cousins in the killing.

A 40-member delegation of friends and family led by Geetanjali’s brother Pradeep Aggarwal met Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda Singh at his residence this evening and submitted a request for a CBI probe.

They later met Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) SN Vashisth, who said the government had decided to refer the case to the CBI after receiving the request.

The Gurgaon police will now send the papers of the case to the DGP’s office, which will recommend a CBI inquiry and forward it to the Home Department.

The recommendation will be sent to the Centre’s Department of Personnel and Training, which will refer it to the CBI. The bureau will examine the case before taking a final call. Sources said the special investigation team (SIT) constituted by the Gurgaon police under ACP Ashok Bakshi and Pankhuri Kumar would carry on with its inquiry till the CBI gave its nod to investigate the case.

Earlier in the day, Hooda had said he was open to the idea of handing over the case to the CBI provided such a demand came from her family. The police has recovered the third bullet that had pierced through the victim’s body. Two bullets have already been recovered from the crime scene.

Sources in the police department say the victim’s family has told the police that Geetanjali had been under stress due to frequent visits by Ravneet’s first cousin Heena.

“The family has alleged that Heena used to frequent Ravneet’s residence, both in Yamunanagar or Gurgaon. Geetanjali had told her sister how Heena’s constant presence in their house had strained her relationship with Ravneet. She had last talked about it just a few days before her murder,” said an investigator.

Heena was present at Ravneet’s residence when Geetanjali went out for a walk the day she was shot. Heena told investigators Geetanjali used to behave normally with her and that they had eaten together around 4 pm on the day of the murder. This is in contrast to the post-mortem report that suggests nothing was found in Geetanjali’s digestive tract.

The police continued its interrogation of Garg’s parents today. The two insisted Geetanjali was living happily with their son. But they failed to elaborate on any immediate provocation for murder or suicide.