Anya Vats to cops: Targeted Manchanda for his money

The two people accused of killing Yuvraj Singh Manchanda, a sales manager at a prominent real estate firm, last week have told police officers that had they purchased two country-made pistols from Shahdara to carry out the crime, officers aware of the details of the investigation said on Monday

The two people accused of killing Yuvraj Singh Manchanda, a sales manager at a prominent real estate firm, last week have told police officers that had they purchased two country-made pistols from Shahdara to carry out the crime, officers aware of the details of the investigation said on Monday.

Delhi Police arrests former office colleague Anya Vats and her associate Sanyam Sachdeva from Uttarakhand. (ANI)

The accused – Manchanda’s former colleague Anya Vats and her partner Sanyam Sachdeva – allegedly used one of the two weapons to shoot Manchanda dead.

“The duo said that they had purchased two country-made pistols from a person in Shahara for ₹2 lakh. We are verifying the claims and trying to trace the person,” a senior police officer said.

During interrogation, the accused also allegedly told investigators that they targeted Manchanda after coming to believe that he had more than ₹60 lakh in his savings account. According to police, they planned to kill him and withdraw the money from his account.

According to investigators, Vats met Manchanda at a cafe in the first week of September.

During the meeting, Manchanda allegedly told her about his financial situation and revealed that he had ₹65 lakh in his bank account. It was during this meeting that she allegedly saw the password to his mobile phone and bank account.

She subsequently hatched a plan with Sachdeva to kill Manchanda. “That’s the reason that the duo did not dump the phone immediately and took two days to make that decision,” the officer said.

Manchanda went missing on the night of September 6. According to police, after the murder, the duo drove around Gurugram for two days with his body in Vats’s Creta before dumping it in a sewer on September 8. His body was recovered by Gurugram Police on September 10.

Delhi Police said Manchanda’s family in Sarita Vihar did not approach the police until September 11 because the accused allegedly took his phone and continued messaging his family for two days, giving the impression that he was alive.

Vats and Sachdeva were traced to Kaichi Dham in Uttarakhand and arrested on September 16. Manchanda’s car has also been recovered from Gurugram and sent for forensic examination.

Police said Vats had initially claimed there was a financial dispute between her and Manchanda involving ₹30 lakh. She allegedly told investigators that she had taken the money from him but did not want to return it despite his demands.