A Delhi court on Thursday remarked that the Gurugram Police had “botched up the investigation” in the case involving the murder of 31-year-old Delhi-based real estate professional Yuvraj Singh Manchanda, who was allegedly killed by his former colleague and her partner on September 6.“You have botched up the investigation having already cremated the body,” Judicial Magistrate First Class Rahul Jain of Saket Court said while hearing a fresh court-ordered compliance report filed by the Gurugram Police.Senior advocate Amit Prasad, who appeared for the complainant — Yuvraj’s sister — told the court that the police conducted a postmortem examination and then cremated the body as “unidentified”.“All the while, they failed to upload the details to ZIPNET in time, causing the loss of time to the victim’s family, who couldn’t link the records until the body had already been cremated,” Prasad argued.Yuvraj’s details, including a photograph, were uploaded by the Delhi Police on ZIPNET — an interstate police database — on September 12, two days after Gurugram Police recovered an unidentified body from a drain in Badshahpur. However, the body, which later turned out to be Yuvraj’s, was cremated on September 14 without being identified.An application had earlier been moved by Yuvraj’s sister in which she had raised concerns over the handling of the body by Gurugram Police and alleged that vital forensic evidence and personal belongings were mishandled or destroyed during the cremation. Following this application, a fresh compliance report was sought by the court.In her application, the sister had sought production and preservation of various records, articles, and digital/electronic materials held by the Badshahpur police station. These included documents relating to the discovery, recovery and identification of the body; postmortem proceedings; biological and DNA samples; forensic reports; photographs, videos and associated metadata; and documentation concerning the cremation of the body on September 14.Story continues below this adShe had also sought details of articles recovered from the body and their chain of custody, ZIPNET entries and communication logs, as well as digital messages exchanged between police officers and the family.The primary accused in the death of Yuvraj are his former colleague Anya Vats and her partner Sanyam Sachdeva. Yuvraj and Anya worked together in the same company until 2022.Police have alleged that Yuvraj met Anya and Sanyam in Gurugram, where he was shot inside their car. The two allegedly kept his body in the vehicle for two days before dumping it in a drain in Badshahpur on September 8. The body was recovered on September 10.Police further alleged that after the murder, Anya and Sanyam travelled to Vrindavan, eventually reaching Kainchi Dham in Uttarakhand, from where the two were arrested.Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023. Professional Background Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University. Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories. Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts. Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials. Recent notable articles In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories. 1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey. 2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation. 3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police. Signature Style Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public. X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99 ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram