NEW DELHI, MARCH 6 Two weeks after the acquittal of all nine accused in the Jessica Lall murder case provoked widespread public outrage—from former Chief Justice of India Justice V N Khare to thousands of anonymous citizens—the Delhi Police today announced a probe against “unknown” persons who may have tampered with evidence in the case.

Admitting that there were “mistakes in the probe”, Police Commissioner K K Paul said a fresh FIR had been lodged against “unknown accused who entered into a criminal conspiracy with common intention to fabricate documents and destroy evidence”.

The FIR comes five years after Paul himself—then JCP (Crime)—had pointed to evidence being tampered with in an internal report on investigations into the shooting of the Delhi model on April 30, 1999.

No follow-up action was taken as the then police chief Ajai Raj Sharma felt it “would harm the case”. It’s a line that Paul seems to have followed even after he became Commissioner in 2004.

The latest investigation, to be headed by U K Katna, Special Commissioner (Intelligence and Operations), will focus on probe officers, key witnesses like Bina Ramani and forensic lab officials. According to top police sources, some arrests are also on the cards.

Sources said that the probe team has been given the go-ahead by Paul to even study mobile phone records of all police officers who handled the earlier probe, right up to then Joint Commissioner (South) Amod Kanth. This will establish if the officers ever came in touch with the accused, directly or otherwise, the sources said. Announcing the fresh probe, Paul told reporters: “There have been some mistakes in the probe. Media reports since the acquittal have raised grave doubts, and hence a fresh FIR has been registered after an analysis of the judgment and advice from the Additional Solicitor General. No person has been named in the FIR as we are open to investigating the role of any accused. We will bring out the truth.”

  Gives me hope, says her sister  

• NEW DELHI: Jessica Lall’s sister Sabrina welcomed the police move to lodge a fresh FIR, saying this “gives me hope”. “Those who denied justice to my sister will finally be punished. This gives me great hope. Who better to clean up the mess than the police who created it?” she said.

• Were the cartridges switched to prop up the two-gun theory that turned the case? If so, by whom.

• Were police case diaries tampered with? Why did conflicting statements emerge on the seizure of the Tata Safari used by Manu Sharma?

• Did key witnesses Bina Ramani and daughter Malini remove evidence from the spot, including bloodstains?

• Why was the gun used in the murder never recovered?

Katna told The Indian Express: “We have already started the investigation. An Assistant Commissioner of Police and two Crime Branch Inspectors will assist me.”