The crime roundup of the week includes the brutal murder of a Delhi Public School teacher in Bangalore and the subsequent arrest of her husband. It has been 19 months for Neena Gaba, whose eight-year-old son Tejas Gaba was kidnapped in front of her eyes in Panipat. But Neena and her family have not given up hope. The CBI has contacted the Scotland Yard for inspecting Aarushi’s father’s golf club for fresh leads into the case. Read on.
Bangalore: Satish Kumar Gupta, the husband of Priyanaka Gupta, the 30-year-old Delhi Public School teacher who was brutally killed last Tuesday, was arrested by the police here.
Satish, who works in the HR department of Infosys Technologies, was all along a prime suspect. The breakthrough came when the police discovered that Satish had taken his wife's mobile when he went out for jogging on the fateful day. He had then called from Priyanka's mobile to his own mobile to create an alibi.
According to the police, Satish was fed up with his wife's taunts. On Tuesday morning, he tied her up on a chair and strangled her to death using a nylon rope. He then discovered that Priyanka's body was still warm. He then took a kitchen knife and slit her throat. Not satisfied, he dug up parts of the throat, giving the police a clue that the act was not that of a professional killer.
Initially, Satish had told the police that his wife had called up to say that two newspaper agents had come in. But on Thursday, the police got proof that Priyanka had not made any call to his wife. When the police verified the phone records, it became clear that Satish had taken Priyanka's phone along on his walk and called himself up using his wife's handset.
Satish reportedly told the police he killed his wife as he was angry with her attitude. She had the habit of taunting him on his sexual vitality.
The police are also likely to take Satish's parents into custody for questioning. This is because Priyanka has some differences with her in-laws and had moved out recently to live separately.
In an intersting development, Satish has implicated his close friend Kishan too in the murder. The police would look at this angle even as they are trying to question Mamatha, a family friend from Lucknow who had arranged the wedding of Priyanka.
It may be recalled that priyanka was found murdered on Tuesday morning at her home in the south Bangalore area of Hulimavu.
Priyanka Gupta, the DPS South teacher, was found gagged and bound to a chair, with her throat slit, by her husband Satish Kumar Gupta. He had reported valuables worth Rs 2 lakh missing from their second-floor independent house.
In the FIR filed by him, Gupta had said the murder happened while he was out on his regular morning walk, for which he left at 5.30 am. He had also told the police that he had received a call from his wife while he was out, asking if he had asked any newspaper delivery boys to come to their house, and that he had told her not to let anybody in till he returned.
According to Gupta, he came back with bread and milk, and on finding the house locked from the inside and his wife not responding, got a spare key from his office. This rang a bell of suspision among the investigators. Why should he go all the way to the office when he should have trid to open a window or sought the help of neighbours.
A Nike shoe and an expensive jacket with a packet of cigarettes that did not belong to Gupta were found in the house, sources said.
"There has been deliberate effort to mislead at the crime scene. The indication, however, is that the husband was not home," sources said.
Gupta, 32, a long-time resident of Bangalore, and Priyanka, whose family hails from Lucknow, got married in 2007. They moved into the house in Hulimavu, a new residential area, six months ago.
New Delhi: It has been 19 long and painful months for Neena Gaba, whose eight-year-old son Tejas Gaba -- a student of DPS Panipat -- was kidnapped in front of her eyes in Panipat's posh Model Town area. But Neena and her family have not given up hope, specially after the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) this month.
The family has also announced that they will give Rs 50 lakh to any person who brings back their only son.
It is a co-incidence but Tejas, who would turn 10 on October 27 this year, has a striking resemblance with 'Ishan' (Darsheel Safary) of Taare Zameen Par. The family has now appealed to Aamir Khan to campaign for them. "I appeal to Aamir Khan to come forward and please help this mother so that strangers can share information," said Neena, in her 40s.
Tejas, a Class III student, was kidnapped on December 12, 2008 at 7.38 am while he was waiting for the schoolbus at Pruthi Chowk in Panipat. Neena, who was accompanying him, was buying chocolates for him when two persons -- one with a mask on -- in Honda Accord car stopped near them. The masked abductor picked the child at gunpoint and fired a shot before fleeing.
The family received a ransom call two days later in which the kidnappers demanded Rs 10 crore. They also sent a video of the child.
Neena said that she keeps watching that video, in which a scared Tejas, with duct tape over his eyes, says, "Hello Mummy, I am fine. Do whatever these people tell you to do... and don't inform the police."
The CBI is relying on this evidence. The agency has recreated the crime scene and is trying to identify every body who works in Tejas's father Rajesh Gaba's business firm and house. Rajesh has a textile business and family lives in the posh Model Town locality.
Rajesh told The Indian Express, "We will give Rs 50 lakh to any person who helps us find our son apart from the Haryana police's Rs 15 lakh reward." The father was hoping and praying for a response: "We believe that we will find him and bring him back home. I want to hug him and kiss him."
After the kidnapping, the family initially did not inform the police and thought of paying the ransom. But the kidnappers, who are suspected to be moving between Delhi and Chandigarh, were not giving any correct information about Tejas. The Delhi Police and Haryana police made several attempts to trace them but to no avail.
The family got more worried when the kidnappers stopped calling after 2009.
Recently, following requests from the family, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda agreed for a CBI probe and the investigations were handed over to the central agency.
The family has provided every minute detail about Tejas, his photo gallery, his habits on two websites -- www.savetejas.com and www.tejasgaba.com.
Neena has posted a message for Tejas on one of the sites, "Wherever you are, we will not let you down. We will do whatever it takes to bring you home. Be strong my son. I still have hope that almighty Shiv Baba is with us. So, we will definitely come out as winners out of this hard situation."
Talwar's golf club sent as piece of evidence
Over the past two weeks, the CBI has been in correspondence with Scotland Yard, seeking recommendation of a reputed laboratory where LCN (low copy number) DNA profiling can be conducted in the UK.
Along with case properties like blood-stained clothes and bed linen, the CBI proposes to send the golf set owned by Rajesh Talwar -- two golf clubs were reportedly found in Hemraj's room but had not been considered as useful evidence until a few months ago. The CBI is now working on the theory that 14-year old Aarushi and Hemraj may have been bludgeoned to death with a golf club and her throat slit later with a sharp weapon.
Six months ago, the CBI asked Rajesh Talwar on the whereabouts of his golf set which was subsequently delivered to the CBI headquarters. The CBI also contacted over phone Talwar's relative who had purchased the set for him in the US.
The LCN DNA technology is being increasingly used in several countries to solve crimes where DNA samples have become degraded or contaminated -as appears to be the case in the killing of Aarushi and Hemraj on May16,2008.
The LCN profiling allows detection of very low levels of DNA in samples. It is learnt that it was the Talwars who first recommended to the CBI that this forensic examination be conducted. Several e-mails were exchanged on the subject between CBI officials and the Talwars who cited the successful use of LCN technology by the Mumbai crime branch in a murder case.
CBI officials said the Talwars recommended use of a laboratory in Canada but they decided on going to a UK laboratory instead to be certain of the quality of the tests.
Mumbai: The family of model Viveka Babajee on Monday reiterated that the model's former boyfriend Gautam Vora could somehow be involved in her death, or might know more than he was willing to reveal. Babajee was found hanging in her Bandra flat in June.
Dale Bhagwagar, a family friend of the Babajees, acting as a spokesperson, reiterated the stand claiming Vora should immediately approach police and come out with the truth. "Without further delay, they (Babajee family) also want him to confess what exactly transpired in the last meeting on the fateful night, because it seems to them there is more than that meets the eye," said a statement released by Bhagwagar .
A month-and-a-half after her daughter's demise, Dayawanti Babajee recently left for her residence in Mauritius, said Bhagwagar.
"Mrs Babajee left with a heavy heart. The police investigations are on. She will wait for police to inform her about further developments." The spokesperson also talked about Jeddah-based Jonaid Bin Tajuddin Mohammed who recently made a statement on Babajee to the Khar police through his lawyer. "Jonaid, who considered Viveka his sister, had a few points to make. Since these were pertaining to the discussion he had with Viveka on Vora..., the family requested him to file the details with Khar police. His office has informed us by email that he has duly filed these details through his lawyer here," said Bhagwagar.
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police KMM Prasanna (Zone 10) said, "The investigation is still on. However, we have not come across any fresh evidence that points at Gautam Vora's involvement in the case." Senior inspector Mangesh Pote refused to comment on Jonaid's statement claiming 'he has no locus standi in the case.'
New tenant missing, police look at robbery as motive
New Delhi: A visually challenged couple was found murdered at their house in East Delhi's Vivek Vihar on Tuesday. The police suspect robbery to be the motive of the crime and are on the lookout for the couple's tenants, who are missing after the incident.
Rajinder Verma (55), had taken voluntary retirement as clerk from the Kalakriti department of the Jawaharlal Nehru University about five years back, while his wife Shobha (50) was a housewife. They have three married daughters, two of whom are visually challenged and another who can see partially.
At about 9.30 am, Verma's youngest daughter Hema called her parents' house (137, Janta flats), but no one picked the phone. She then asked a neighbour to check on her parents.
"The neighbour found Verma lying on the bed with a pillow on his face and his wife gagged and tied to a chair. Both were dead," said a senior police officer.
The police said Verma's tenant, who had taken a room in the building on rent ten days ago, has not been seen after the bodies were discovered. "The tenant, Ashwini Kumar, is from Baghpat. He used to have a regular visitor called Raju. The two are missing since Monday night," said an officer, adding a team has been sent to Uttar Pradesh to trace the duo.
"Ashwini was introduced by our neighbour Sushma. He works in a call centre in Noida Sector 63 and is now missing," said Hema. "My father had encashed a fixed deposit a a few days back, that money is missing. Some other articles are also not to be found. We suspect the tenants are behind my parents' murder," she alleged.
"At about 1 am, the tenants were seen smoking and talking on mobile phones on the terrace," said a neighbour. "Verma had scolded them for bringing a woman to the house some days back," added another.
Additional Commissioner of Police (East) K C Dwivedi said robbery seems to be the motive of the crime as the daughter has claimed that some money was missing from the house.
"As of now, the tenant and his friend are the main suspects," he said, adding that a case has been filed at the Vivek Vihar police station.
The couple's eldest daughter Lalita has partial vision and works in Loni, while their second daughter Anjali is a housewife and stays with her husband in Nangloi. Hema is a student and lives in Kanjhawala.
Minors were brought to city by placement agency owners
New Delhi: In separate incidents of human trafficking reported from the Capital in the last few days, a minor girl was allegedly raped by a placement agency owner while another was forced to work as a domestic help for over seven months in inhuman conditions. The two victims hail from Orissa, the police said.
In the first incident, a 17-year-old girl was raped by a placement agency owner in Vijay Vihar on August 7 after she was brought here from Sundargarh district in Orissa on August 4.
Police said the victim was brought to Delhi by a conduit called Shanno, who told her that her sister was not well and she would have to work in her place.The police said Shanno's brother-in-law Mukesh, who runs a placement agency called Khanna Enterprises in Vijay Vihar, allegedly raped the girl on August 7 after which she complained to the police.
As her medical examination confirmed rape, the police registered an FIR under Section 376 at Vijay Vihar police station and arrested Mukesh.
In the second incident, a 16-year-old girl and three others, including her 19-year-old sister, were trafficked to Rohini in January this year from Kandhamal in Orissa by a person called Montu who reportedly runs a placement agency called Shikha Maid Bureau in Rithala.
Police said the 16-year-old was rescued by the All India Christian Council and Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) on Monday from a house in Prashant Vihar where she worked as a domestic help.
Karuna Dayal, a member of the rescue team, alleged, "The girls was brought here by two women traffickers and two men. She was living in very poor conditions. She started working at 5 am and finished late night. She was not being given food properly."
Dayal alleged the victim was being abused by Montu. "When we went to police, they did not register an FIR saying medical examination did not confirm that she was raped. And they say that as the crime happened in Orissa, the kidnapping case should be registered in Kandhamal from where she had been brought," said Dayal.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Chayya Sharma said, "We are registering a case of kidnapping at Prashant Vihar police station which will be transferred to Orissa police. But medical examination did not confirm if the girl was raped."
Police are also looking for Montu, who is absconding.
Eight-year-old killed for 'good luck'
Gonda (Uttar Pradesh): Acting on the directions of a self-professed godman that killing of a minor girl would bring him prosperity and good luck, a man buried his eight-year-old niece alive in this Uttar Pradesh district Tuesday, police said.
Shiv Kumar, a resident of Bangharanpurwa village in Gonda, some 150 km from Lucknow, buried his niece Manau alive in fields on the outskirts of the village.
"When the victim's family members approached us to register a missing report for Manau, we started investigating the matter. Later it was revealed that Manau was last seen with her uncle," police inspector S.P. Singh told reporters.
"When we interrogated Shiv Kumar, he confessed to his crime and said it was committed on the directions of a 'tantrik', who is absconding," he added.
Shiv Kumar was in touch with the godman for the last several months.
It was a brutal, diabolical act, says court
New Delhi: Almost 14 years after he stabbed his step-mother and her two children to death at their North Delhi residence, the Supreme Court on Monday upheld the death penalty given to Atbir Singh for a crime committed in an "extremely brutal, diabolical, revolting and dastardly manner".
Singh killed Sheela Devi, his step-mother, and her children Manish and Sonu over a property dispute in Mukherjee Nagar here on January 22, 1996. The sessions court sentenced him to death in September 2004 primarily on consideration of the brutality of the killings.
Medical evidence found that Singh had stabbed Manish 11 times, Sheela five times and Sonu 21 times to ensure their deaths. Prosecution said Singh was accompanied by his mother Chandrawati -- who had been deserted by his father Jaswant Singh -- and two others at the time of commission of the crime.
Delhi High Court, while confirming the trial court verdict on January 13, 2006, observed that the "lust for two 'Z's, i.e., zar (wealth) and zameen (land) by the appellants, led to the commission of this ghastly crime. The genesis lay in the second marriage of one of the appellant's father. Thus the third proverbial 'Z', i.e., zun (woman) too played its part".
The Supreme Court Bench of Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan agreed with the High Court's observation that "the magnitude of the crime is a triple murder completed in a most diabolic, cruel and ghastly manner".
The Bench said two of Atbir's victims were children who lost their lives without any fault of their own. There was no provocation or instigation on their part, it observed.
"An innocent girl of 18 years and a boy in his teens with their mother who was helpless before Atbir, who was armed. The brutality of the act, as noted earlier, is amplified by the repeated stab wounds inflicted on the three deceased persons, one after another in succession. These demonstrate that the appellant does not possess basic humaneness and lacks the psyche or mindset which may be amenable for any reform," the High Court had pronounced.
Of the co-accused in the case, the Delhi High Court in 2006 awarded Ashok life imprisonment and the mother was declared a proclaimed offender.
The fourth accused, Arvind, was given the benefit of doubt and eventually acquitted.
Parents refuse to accept girl as daughter
Dehradun: Classmates Rahul and Shikha, both 17, fear they will be murdered -- they dared to fall in love outside their caste. Students of Doon Public School, Bhaniawala, they eloped four months ago after the girl's family got to know of their affair -- an SMS on Shikha's mobile gave them away. They returned Sunday, pleading for forgiveness and mercy.
But, in a land where breaking 'tradition' is sin, forgiveness is not easily given. Shikha's parents refuse to accept her back and Rahul has been booked for abduction and may also be booked for rape.
"I fear for my life. We are very insecure. My parents harassed me. Rahul did not abduct me. I went with him on my own. We want to get married," Shikha told The Indian Express.
But why did they come back? "I worked as a helper in a restaurant in Mumbai. Shikha also worked since we had no money," Rahul says.
For now NGO Samadhan has taken them in to ensure they don't become victims of 'honour' killing. "They are now safe. They need to be counseled and not treated as criminals," says Renu Singh, president of Samadhan.
On Monday, the couple will appear before the Juvenile Justice Court, which will decide their fear. Shikha's mother Saroj Bimjola says she will let her daughter mary Rahul if his family agrees, but won't let her in her house again.
"I am not willing to accept her as my daughter. Who will marry her now that she has stayed with the boy for four months. If the parents of the boy are willing to accept both of them, I have no problem," she said.
Rahul's parents -- Madan Singh and Shakuntala Devi -- say they have nothing against their son or Shikha.
"We want the two to be happy, whatever it takes," they say
Dowry death: In-laws, husband burn woman to death
Greater Noida: A 22-year-old woman was allegedly burnt to death for dowry by her husband and in-laws in Shadipur Chidauli area of Greater Noida, police said Sunday.
Reshma, the wife of contract worker Israr, was found with serious burns in her husband's house in Shadipur Saturday, Badalpur police said.
"We received an information around 2.30 p.m. When we rushed to the house, we found her with burns. There was a kerosene can kept beside her body," Badalpur Station House Officer Amit Kumar said.
"No family member was present inside the house," he said.
"Reshma, originally a resident of Yasingarhi in Ghaziabad, married Israr two-and-half-years back," Amit Kumar said.
"The woman's father Abdul Hamid claimed that her husband and in-laws were harassing her for dowry ever since her marriage," he said.
"On Abdul's complaint we have registered a dowry death case against Israr, his brother Irfan, mother Khatoon, and sisters Chitara and Salma," he said.
"All the accused are at large. We are making efforts to arrest them," Amit said.
Accused drugged victims with sedatives
Pune: The Pune police have booked an engineer for allegedly raping a 35-year-old housewife after drugging her with sedatives mixed in coffee in March this year. The suspect has been identified as Shridhar Gauda, a resident of a plush Kharadi residential complex and an engineer with a private company in Ranjangaon MIDC. The victim had lodged the complaint with the Yerawada police. According to the police, Gauda is a native of Bangalore. He and the victim reside in the same residential complex in Kharadi.
They came to know each other during a party on the terrace of their building.
In the last week of March, Gauda allegedly called the victim to his apartment saying that he was ill. When she went to his apartment, Gauda allegedly offered her a coffee carrying sedatives. Soon after having the coffee, she started losing consciousness.
Gauda took advantage of the situation and alleged raped her. The victim did not speak to anyone about the incident, because he had threatened to kill her 11year-old-son. Police sub inspector D B Raut is investigating the case.
Police have launched a hunt for Gauda.
