Sandeep Gadoli encounter: Was Divya Pahuja's arrest a planned surrender?

After months of outsmarting the police and staying out of their grasp, Divya Pahuja was finally arrested from her home in Gurgaon yesterday. Ever since she was named as a conspirator in the murder case of Gurgaon gangster Sandeep Gadoli, not once had she gone home, where the police were waiting to catch her. The fact that she and her mother were arrested there while they were calmly enjoying pulao made by Divya, begs the question of whether she planned the whole thing.

Also Read: Gadoli encounter: Mumbai crime branch arrests girlfriend Divya Pahuja

Mumbai Police arrested Divya Pahuja from her home in Gurgaon yesterday. Pic/PTI

During an exclusive interview with mid-day last month, the 20-year-old had said she would not turn herself in because she had done nothing wrong. So what changed her mind? In the same interview, she also said there was a threat to her life. It's possible that she finally got tired of being on the run and constantly having to look over her shoulder.

Key in hand
Divya and her mother Sonia were brought to Mumbai by a late flight on Thursday evening. With her arrest, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) finally has the key to cracking the case. As Gadoli's girlfriend, Divya was travelling with him and was in the same hotel room when he was shot dead by a team of Gurgaon cops on February 7. She is the sole eyewitness who can confirm whether it was cold-blooded murder or, as the Gurgaon cops claim, he was killed in a genuine encounter. But the path ahead is unlikely to be straightforward - even before she was named in the FIR, Divya had changed her statement several times.

Read Story: Andheri shootout: Sandeep Gadoli's girlfriend convinced him to get rid of his weapon

Equally important is the allegation that Divya was in cahoots with the Gurgaon police, who used her as a honeytrap to keep track of his whereabouts and ensure he was unarmed. Investigations suggest that the Gurgaon cops kept track of Gadoli's location through Divya's Facebook updates. She allegedly also passed on information through her mother, Sonia, who has also been arrested.

Also Read: Gurgaon gangster's shootout: 'My only mistake was being in the same room when Gadoli was shot'

A police officer said, "Divya gave each and every update of their movement to the accused policemen and her mother Sonia. She regularly made Facebook updates about her location and even had WhatsApp and phone conversations with her mother. Her mother then passed on the information to the rival Gujjar gang and the accused policemen."

He added, "The accused policemen used this precise information to carry out the fake encounter. Unfortunately for them, everything was captured in the hotel's CCTV cameras."