Three days after a 75-year-old woman was murdered at her residence in north-west Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh, a 37-year-old resident of Jahangirpuri was arrested on Monday morning, the police said. He pretended to be a plumber to gain easy access to the woman’s house.
Raj Rani Grover was found dead with her throat slit around 4.30 p.m. on Republic Day. The deceased had been living alone since her husband Jaswant Singh’s death a few years ago.
The motive behind the murder was robbery, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Aslam Khan.
The police said Ms. Grover’s house needed some plumbing and electrical work and and one of her two sons who live nearby had sent two workers for the job.
“Accused Budhai also turned up and pretended to be a plumber. The two real workers were familiar with each other but didn’t know Budhai. They assumed he had been called separately,” said Ms. Khan.
Seeing three men, Ms. Grover got confused but allowed them in thinking her son must have sent them. On the first day, Budhai pretended to work a little but left the premises. He came back the next day but was unable to find her.
‘Intent to burgle’
“He asked the neighbours about Ms. Grover but left when she did not return for a while,” the officer said.
Following this, Budhai visited the woman with an intent to burgle the house. He was working when the victim went to the park. He called her up and asked her to come back so that he could complete the work.
“As soon as she returned, he started to take the bangles off her hands. When she resisted, he slit her throat, burgled the house and fled the spot,” Ms. Khan said.
CCTV footage
When the police started investigating, two plumbers were questioned. They told the police about Budhai. The CCTV footage from the area was analysed. At least 15 teams worked on the case to nab the accused and checked dossiers, history sheets and other documents to get clues about the murderer.
With the help of human surveillance, he was arrested on Monday morning. The police further stated that the killer was a rickshaw puller.
“He had bought the tools for the crime on the same day he entered the house,” Ms. Khan said.
She added that another case of robbery has been registered against the accused at Samaypur Badli police station.
The police claim to have recovered the victim’s jewellery and mobile phone from his possession.
