Saumya Vishwanathan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Saumya Vishwanathan

• Saumya Vishwanathan was an Indian journalist who worked as a news producer at Headlines Today (now India Today). In 2008, she was shot dead while driving her car near on Nelson Mandela Marg, New Delhi.

• Her father hailed from Kuttippuram, Kerala. ^[4]Viswanathan Mk – Facebook

• She grew up in New Delhi.

  

• She joined the Headlines Today new channel as a news producer in February 2008 and worked there till September 2008 when she was murdered.

• Before Headlines Today, she had also worked at CNN-IBN.

• On 30 September 2008, Soumya was shot dead near her home in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj. She was found dead in her Maruti Zen car with a gunshot wound to her head. Soumya had stayed late at her office in Jhandewalan to assist with breaking news on two bomb blasts, one in Malegaon in Maharashtra and the other in Gujarat. While driving back home, Soumya overtook a WagonR with four men inside – Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljit Malik, and Akshay Kumar. These men noticed that Soumya was driving alone and began to follow her. They attempted to get her to stop, but she couldn’t hear them as she was listening to music. In response, Kapoor fired a shot at her using a Desi Katta (a countrymade weapon), which took her life instantly. Her car crashed into a divider on Nelson Mandela Marg and came to a halt. Around 3:45 a.m., a restaurant employee cycling home discovered Soumya’s car and alerted the police. Soumya was rushed to AIIMS, where she was pronounced dead. Initially, the killers fled the scene but later returned to check on the victim. When they saw the police at the crime scene, they fled once more. The investigation into this case was led by IPS officer HGS Dhaliwal.
  

  

  The police achieved a significant breakthrough in Soumya’s murder case while investigating the killing of another woman, Jigisha Ghosh, in March 2009. Ravi Kapoor and his gang had murdered and looted Ghosh. To track down the culprits, the police followed the transactions made with Jigisha’s stolen ATM card, which were used to purchase items like shoes, a television, and a watch in areas like Saket and Sarojini Nagar. During their investigation, the police came across a blurry CCTV recording that showed the three suspects buying a watch. In the footage, one of the accused appeared to be muscular with a tattoo on his left wrist, while another was seen with a wireless set and wearing a cap. Consequently, a police team began visiting gyms in areas such as Vasant Vihar, Vasant Kunj, Malviya Nagar, and Saket. A gym instructor in Masoodpur village, Vasant Kunj, identified Baljeet Malik, also known as Poppy, who had his name tattooed on his hand. Meanwhile, Kapoor was recognized to carry a wireless set which he had snatched from a police officer. This led to the arrest of the killers. During their interrogation, Malik admitted their involvement in another woman’s murder, which turned out to be Soumya. In 2017, a trial court sentenced Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla to death and handed Baljeet Malik a life sentence in the Jigisha Ghosh murder case. However, in 2018, the Delhi High Court commuted the death sentences of Kapoor and Shukla. It took fifteen years to bring Soumya’s killers to justice. On 13 October 2023, Delhi court convicted five men in connection with Soumya’s murder. Four accused persons Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljit Malik, and Akshay Kumar, were held guilty for the offences under Section 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of IPC. Meanwhile, the fifth, Ajay Sethi, was convicted for the offence under Section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of IPC.