Pankaj Mehra, the husband of 34-year-old Priya Mehra who was shot dead by him on October 25, allegedly told the police that he pulled the trigger while she was half asleep.
“The couple was returning home around 4 a.m. and their two-year-old son was sleeping on Priya’s lap. She herself was half asleep when Pankaj shot her twice,” said a senior police officer privy to the case.
‘She never saw it coming’
Just as the police suspected earlier, Mr. Mehra had planned his wife’s murder carefully. He allegedly told the police that he chose a specific time to shoot her because he expected her to offer little or no resistance at that hour.
“She never saw it coming,” he told the investigators.
While the police have been able to establish that Mr. Mehra was having an affair, which they claimed was one of the motives behind the murder, the accused is yet to reveal more about the woman he was involved with.
Phone records
“He has been questioned but refuses to divulge any details about her. However, his phone records prove that he was having an affair,” the officer said, adding that the records are being examined for more details.
Mr. Mehra also told the police about the pistol he used to shoot his wife but his claims are yet to be verified.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (north-west) Milind Mahadeo Dumbere said, “The weapon has not been recovered so far. He claims he took it from a moneylender, from whom he had borrowed several lakhs. However, the latter is absconding and the claim remains unverified,” Mr. Dumbere said.
He added that Mr. Mehra claimed to have thrown the pistol after the shooting but the weapon was missing when he was taken to the spot.
Meanwhile, a Delhi court allowed the police to interrogate Mr. Mehra for three more days and extended his custody till November 2.
CCTV footage
Mr. Mehra allegedly murdered his wife inside his car near Rohini jail. He initially tried to mislead the police claiming he was waylaid by two men in a car.
However, CCTV footage from the area revealed there was no other car in the vicinity at the time of the murder. Confronted with evidence, he allegedly confessed to killing her.