The Delhi Police crime branch on Friday arrested a man from Punjab for the murder of his live-in partner at their rented flat in west Delhi’s Ganesh Nagar, officers aware of the matter said.
Manpreet, identified only by his first name, had been living with Rekha Rani (35) and her 16-year-old daughter for the past five years, police said, adding that Rani was unemployed and depended on Manpreet for finances.
On Friday, police said, Rani’s body was found with multiple stab wounds in her jaw, neck and hand in her flat, while Manpreet was missing. Officers said they began to suspect Manpreet’s role, and he was subsequently apprehended from Punjab, adding that he has admitted to the murder.
According to police, the murder came to light after the Tilak Nagar police station received a call on Friday around noon, regarding a quarrel in a house that was locked from outside. A police team reached the spot and met a girl, who said she was not able to find her mother, and that suspected the mother may have been harmed by her mother’s partner, who was also missing.
“Our team broke open the main door and went inside. The body of Rani was found on the bed. There were stab wounds in her jaw, neck and hand. The body was shifted to a government hospital mortuary for autopsy. A case of murder and destruction of evidence was registered and the woman’s live-in partner became our prime suspect,” deputy commissioner of police (west) Ghanshyam Bansal said, adding that later in the day, Manpreet was arrested by the crime branch.
Ravindra Singh Yadav, special commissioner of police (crime branch), said, “The accused had escaped in his Hyundai i20 car to his native village in Punjab’s Patiala district soon after committing the murder.”
According to Yadav, Manpreet has been previously been involved in six heinous cases, including kidnapping for ransom and attempt to murder.
A senior police officer aware of the case said, “The preliminary interrogation of Manpreet has revealed that he had a fight with the woman over some financial issues. He has claimed that he had been helping her financially and was asking her to return the money that she had taken from him. A scuffle broke out between them and during that he stabbed and killed her. We are verifying his disclosures.”
DCP Bansal said the investigating team will secure Manpreet’s custody to interrogate him and ascertain the motive as well as the entire sequence of events leading to Rani’s murder. “We will interrogate him to ascertain if he took away anything from the house,” he said.
A senior police officer aware of the case said, “The preliminary interrogation of Manpreet has revealed that he had a fight with the woman over some financial issues. He has claimed that he had been helping her financially and was asking her to return the money that she had taken from him. A scuffle broke out between them and during that he stabbed and killed her. We are verifying his disclosures.”
DCP Bansal said the investigating team will secure Manpreet’s custody to interrogate him and ascertain the motive as well as the entire sequence of events leading to Rani’s murder. “We will interrogate him to ascertain if he took away anything from the house,” he said.