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East Delhi murder victim was stabbed 50 times with ice pick: Police
Police said the three assailants involved in the case have been identified, and a search is on to nab them
A day after a 72-year-old woman was stabbed to death in broad daylight in east Delhi’s Mandawali, police officers aware of the case said that they suspect that she was murdered either over a property dispute or over personal enmity.
Police also said that the three assailants involved in the case have been identified, and a search is on to nab them.
Sudha Gupta, the victim, was murdered at the Mandawali railway underbridge near Preet Vihar on Tuesday afternoon, just a few hundred metres away from her son Pankaj’s clinic. Police said she owned at least four properties at key locations in east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar and Mandawali, and lived on the rent she collected from these buildings. They said she lived alone in her Guru Nanakpura house and her five children — three sons and two daughters — live with their respective families in neighbourhoods across east Delhi.
At least two officers associated with the case, citing CCTV footage and the initial autopsy report, on Wednesday said the assailants waited for Sudha near the clinic and followed her on a two-wheeler, before stabbing her nearly 50 times with sharp, pointed objects — possibly ice picks— and then fled.
After the attack, two passersby rushed Sudha to a nearby hospital, where doctors suspected that her injuries were a result of a road accident and referred her to another private hospital for better medical attention. Sudha succumbed to her injuries at the second hospital.
After examining the injuries, doctors as well as police officers opined that she was stabbed to death. A case of murder was registered, and investigation was taken up.
One of the officers quoted above, declining to be named, said, “We scanned CCTV cameras installed at shops near the crime scene and also near Pankaj’s clinic. It was confirmed that the suspects were present outside the clinic and followed Gupta, when she left on her scooter. They overtook her two-wheeler and parked it near the underbridge. As she reached the underbridge, they intercepted her and stabbed her multiple times before fleeing. The video footage shows it took them less than a minute to park the bike, stab Gupta, and flee.”
The second officer said that none of the three were wearing a helmet or otherwise covered their face, which helped in identifying them. Police did not release their names, but said all three are residents of Mandawali and live near Sudha’s four-storey building.
Police said the suspects are absconding and multiple teams are conducting raids in Delhi and Gurugram to nab them.
Sudha’s family said they suspect the role of a family of vegetable hawkers who set up their cart in the lane outside her property. “Over the last one year, we filed multiple complaints against the vendors to the local police and concerned senior police officers, requesting them to clear the encroachment. However, our requests fell on deaf ears and the police did not take any action, even as in a few of the latest complaints, we told them about the threats that the vendor family had been extending to us, my mother in particular,” said Pankaj.
Police, meanwhile, said that they were also looking into the role of a family who lived above Pankaj’s clinic, but had been asked to vacate recently — one of their relatives had recently returned from a stint in prison, and the neighbours had complained, leading to Sudha asking them to move out.
Deputy commissioner of police (east) Amrutha Guguloth said Sudha’s family and the vendor family had filed cross-complaints against each other. “The exact motive behind the murder will be established only when the suspects are interrogated. Till then we are exploring all possibilities, including property disputes,” she said.
