What Bharti revealed 4 years ago

The guessing game on the nature of Bharti Yadav’s deposition in court on Wednesday might continue but her statement to the police soon after Nitish Katara’s disappearance four years ago had pointed to her brother’s guilt.

A fortnight after Nitish was allegedly abducted and killed by Vikas and Vishal Yadav, Bharti admitted to the police that she shared a romantic relationship with Nitish.

In the statement recorded under section 161 of CrPC by the Ghaziabad Police on March 2, 2002, Bharti admitted she was in love with Nitish Katara. Nitish had spoken to his mother about their marriage and the two often went go out together, she said.

Bharti also told police that on February 16, the night Nitish disappeared, Vikas and Vishal, Bharti and the victim had gone to attend a wedding in Ghaziabad.

“Around 1.30 am, I found out that my brother Vikas, cousin Vishal and one of our employee Sukhdev Pehalwan had taken Nitish with them. I was worried. I searched the entire marriage venue for Nitish. My brothers had come to the wedding in their Tata Safari car,” Bharti said in the statement.

Around 2.15 am, she called home from her mobile phone asking for her brothers. “I called my home repeatedly. I was worried Vikas and Vishal might do something disastrous to Nitish as they did not like me dancing and getting my pictures clicked with Nitish during the party”.

“Around 4 in the morning, I called Bharat Diwarkar to ask about Nitish. Diwarkar and Nitish had gone to the party together. Three hours later, Diwarkar called me and said he was unable to trace Nitish,” she said.

Around 7.30 am, Bharti said, she received a call from Nitish’s mother Neelam Katara.

“On February 17, I gave her my father DP Yadav’s number so that she could to inquire about Nitish. In the meantime, I had written several e-mails to Nitin Katara, his younger brother, expressing concern over Nitish’s disappearance. I have mailed him at zindalashnitinkatara@hotmail.com ’. The mails can be recovered from Nitin,” she said in her statement.

She also told the police that her close relatives, including her maternal uncle, Bharat Yadav, and her father’s sister knew about her relationship with Nitish.

They had also said that they would broach the topic of her marriage (with Nitish) with her father after the elections were over, she said.

Email Naziya Alvi: naziya.alvi@hindustantimes.com