86-year-old woman stabbed to death by former driver in Delhi

NEW DELHI: An 86-year-old woman was stabbed to death, allegedly by her former driver, at her house in outer Delhi's Rani Bagh on Tuesday. The suspect has been arrested.
The victim, Murti Devi, lived with her family. The accused, identified as Gopal, is originally from Rajasthan. He had been fired some time ago and had been unemployed since. Police said the prime motive was robbery.

Deputy commissioner of police (outer) Sameer Sharma said a call was received about the incident at 7.16pm Tuesday. "We saw blood splattered on the wall of a room. A pair of slippers, glasses and blood-stained artificial teeth were lying on the floor," he said.
A murder case was registered at the Rani Bagh police station on the complaint of Devi's son, a hardware businessman, and a team under inspector Chandra Shekhar was formed. "Gopal was identified from CCTV footage. But the complainant did not know where he lived," the DCP said.
Cops traced Gopal and nabbed him from his rented accommodation in Pitampura. He was packing his belongings and was about to flee with his wife.
Gopal told cops he had been working as a driver at the woman's house since January. "He was fired on September 12 as he hadn't turned up for duty for the past seven-eight days without informing anyone. He was aware that a lot of money was kept in one of the almirahs in the house," police said.
Gopal, who was without a job and had got married just a few months ago, planned the robbery, conducted a recee near the house and bought a knife, cops said.
"On Tuesday, he learnt that the victim's grandson and his wife were not at home. In the evening, he waited outside the NDPL office for two hours for an opportunity to enter the house. He saw Devi's son also going out for a walk with his wife," police said.
Gopal told cops he was unaware of Devi's presence in the house. "He entered through the main door which was not locked. He was stealing money from the almirah when she saw him and raised the alarm. He stabbed her in the neck and chin with the knife and fled with Rs 3.2 lakh," police said, adding they have recovered the weapon.