Delhi woman suspect in murder left a ‘nice man’ note on victim’s bed

The officers said the woman had checked in with the victim but left with his cash, jewellery and other belongings, after he fell unconscious in the room

A week after a 54-year-old businessman was found dead at a hotel room in Safdarjung Enclave in south Delhi, the crime branch of Delhi Police on Sunday said they have arrested a 29-year-old woman in connection with the case, senior officers aware of the case said.

Delhi Police have arrested a 29-year-old woman a week after a 54-year-old businessman was found dead at a hotel room in Safdarjung Enclave in south Delhi. (Representative image)

The officers said the woman had checked in with the victim but left with his cash, jewellery and other belongings, after he fell unconscious in the room. Before leaving the hotel room, the woman had left a note on the bed in which she referred to him as a “nice person” and “apologised him for doing such a thing to him, as she was compelled to do it”, the officers added.

The woman, identified by investigators as Usha alias Anjali alias Nikki allegedly spiked the businessman’s drink and made him consume alcohol. The victim, Deepak Sethi, died of a cardiac arrest, the investigators said.

They said that the conspiracy was hatched by another woman, Madhumita, who met Usha in a Haryana jail last year, and added that Usha was arrested on Friday.

The businessman’s stolen gold ring, mobile phone and a blue bag were recovered from the Usha, apart from her fake Aadhar Card and a cellphone that she had procured along with a SIM card on fake documents for the purpose of executing the murder-cum-robbery conspiracy, crime branch officers said. They said they were looking for Madhumita, who absconded after the alleged murder.

“Madhumita was arrested in a similar case that she executed along with her friend in Haryana, where they allegedly attacked and robbed a businessman after luring him to a hotel room. She was arrested in that case. Usha, on the other hand, was arrested in a case of extortion and threatening a person to implicate him in a false case. They met in a Haryana jail and started living together in Delhi after being released from prison,” said a crime branch officer, who is not authorised to speak to media.

Special commissioner of police (crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav said Sethi’s body was found in a hotel room in Safdarjung Enclave on March 31. During inquiry, it was learnt that Sethi, a resident of Indirapuram, had checked into the hotel with a woman around 8.30pm on March 30, but the woman left the hotel around 12.30am on March 31. It was also found that the woman had left in a Maruti Wagon R car.

A crime branch team led by ACP Naresh Solanki visited the hotel and examined the CCTV footage. It also obtained the suspect’s Aadhaar Card that she had used while checking into the hotel, Yadav said. The card issued in the name of Anjali was found to be fake. Sethi’s mobile phone call records were obtained and the police zeroed in on some suspicious numbers, he added.

“We found that the woman’s phone number that was obtained on fake documents was active only on March 20. Further probe revealed that the phone number was recharged by a Nigerian man from a shop in Delhi’s Sant Garh, near Tilak Nagar, on March 23. The man was questioned and he told the police that it was Usha alias Nikki who was using the phone number. He also told the police that she lived with Madhumita. Further, technical surveillance helped us identify the suspect as Usha, a native of Haryana’s Panipat, and arrest her with Sethi’s stolen belongings,” added Yadav.

During the interrogation, the special CP said, Usha told the police that Madhumita knew Sethi. On March 30, the two women came to Connaught Place Metro station, where they met Sethi. The businessman then went to the hotel with Usha.

“Usha had planned that she would drug Sethi and when he would fell unconscious she would flee with his money and other belongings while Madhumita would be waiting in a cab,” the special commissioner said

“When Sethi fell unconscious, Usha took the bag, mobile phone and some jewellery and fled the hotel along with Madhumita. It was a foolproof conspiracy, as all the IDs and mobile numbers were taken on forged documents,” added Yadav.

Usha was produced before a city court that sent him to jail. The Safdarjung Enclave police will now seek her custody for further probe, the officers said.