Delhi: Nephew killed woman, cousin over taunts

NEW DELHI: The nephew of 52-year-old Babita Verma, who was bludgeoned to death along with her 27-year-old son, Gaurav, at their Palam residence on Tuesday, has been arrested for the murder committed allegedly over a monetary issue.
Abhishek Verma (33), who runs a cosmetic shop in Burari, said Babita had lent him Rs 50,000 last December for his sister’s wedding and used to constantly taunt them about their poor financial condition as he couldn’t return it.
The accused had visited the victims’ house in southwest Delhi two days before the crime, when they had an argument over the same issue. He had then decided to eliminate them, police said. Abhishek was arrested from outside a mortuary when he was waiting there along with family members for the bodies.
Police said an e-rickshaw driver who had dropped the accused to the Metro station after the crime and a CCTV grab of the accused carrying a CPU and a DVR helped them crack the case.
The CCTV footage showed an e-rickshaw with Sarthi written on it, which helped police trace the driver. He told the cops that the man had bloodstains on him and had used an e-wallet to pay him as he had a torn note. On checking the details, police got to know about Abhishek.
Ingit Pratap Singh, DCP (South West) said, “A team led by Palam SHO Paras Nath Verma traced the accused and arrested him. He had parked his scooter at Dashrathpuri Metro station and went to his aunt’s house. To mislead police, he had left the almirah open.” Abhishek had returned to the crime spot and even helped the cops pull out the bodies.
Police have found the scooter, the cover of the CPU and the bloodstained clothes.