Friend who was with Tanishq before death identified, at large

Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, November 10

A day after the death of a 19-year-old SD College student, the Panchkula police have identified his Mohali-based male friend who was with Tanishq before his death. The police have issued a notice to his family to send him to join the investigation at 10 am tomorrow. The victim’s friend is at large and his mobile phone is also switched off.

The body of Sector 4 resident Tanishq Bhasin was found in his car with a bullet injury on his forehead on the Panchkula-Morni road yesterday morning.

A senior Panchkula police official said before going to Morni, Tanishq’s mobile tower location was in Mohali and at the same time his friend’s tower location was also the same. Tanishq had also called up the same friend on the evening of November 8 before going to Mohali. The mobile phones of both Tanishq and his friend were switched off at the same time and at the same tower location around Panchkula on November 8 night, the official said.

The police official said the father of the victim’s friend was a senior functionary of Verka in Mohali. The family had also not been able to contact him as his phone is switched off. In the evening, the police issued a notice to the family members asking them to send him to join the investigation, the official said.

Panchkula Police Commissioner AS Chawla said they were probing all possible angles and had sent his mobile phone and the laptop to a cyber lab in Gurugram for examination.

“I cannot divulge any more details as the investigation is in progress,” Chawla said.

Let my vest dry here, says note found in bag

A two-page note written in his notebook, which was found from Tanishq’s bag in the car, reads, “Let my vest dry here. Please do not remove it from there until I wake up. Also do not keep anything”. The second page reads, “Wake me up at 7.15 am...7.15 AM sharp...College”. A police official said they were also investigating the Blue Whale challenge angle in the case.

WhatsApp was functional on laptop, not mobile

The police have sent his mobile phone and laptop for further examination to the Gurugram-based cyber lab of the Haryana Police. There was no WhatsApp on Tanishq’s mobile, but he was using it on his laptop.

Postmortem rules out external injury

The postmortem, which was conducted at the General Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula, has ruled out any external injury on the body. The bullet was also recovered from the head. The viscera and bullet were sent for further examination.

Family wants pistol owner traced 

Tanishq’s family lodged a police complaint on Friday evening to trace the actual owner of the German-made pistol used in the crime. The police have found that the pistol was not registered in Panchkula.

Cigarette butts recovered from car

The police recovered cigarette buts, a pack of cigarettes and a matchbox from the car. Tanishq’s friends and family members told the police that he was not a smoker. 

Told friends he would get weapon from UP

The police also questioned Tanishq’s friends, who said around three months ago, he had told them about how weapons were easily available in Uttar Pradesh. Tanishq had even told his friends that one day he would get a sophisticated weapon from there, the police said.