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Family friend in net for killing Delhi woman, her daughter-in-law
Harshit, 21, was arrested on Wednesday, a day after a 70-year-old woman and her 48-year-old daughter-in-law were found murdered at their residence in northeast Delhi’s Welcome area.
New Delhi: A day after a 70-year-old woman and her 48-year-old daughter-in-law were found murdered at their residence in northeast Delhi’s Welcome area, police arrested a 21-year-old man, said to be a friend of the family, in connection with the case, officials said Wednesday.
Also Read: 70-yr-old woman, daughter-in-law found murdered in northeast Delhi, man detained
The arrested man was identified as Harshit (who goes by one name).
The semi-decomposed bodies of Bimla Devi and her daughter-in-law Dolly Rai were found early on Tuesday by Dolly’s sons, Shashank Rai, 26, and Sarthak Rai, 24.
The family owns a religious goods business in Chandni Chowk. During the probe, Shashank informed investigators that he and his brother had asked their friend Harshit, a resident of Naveen Shahdara, to check up on their mother and grandmother and keep an eye on the house and shop in their absence.
“We were told that Dolly walked her pet dog every morning. But an analysis of footage from CCTV cameras in the area showed she did not step out on the morning of August 14. She was last seen with Harshit at a local temple on the evening of August 13,” deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Sanjay Kumar Sain said.
The women’s family told investigators Bimla was bed-ridden and dependent on Dolly — she would call Dolly upstairs 15-20 times a day to tend to her needs. However, when investigators examined Bimla’s call detail records, they found no calls to Dolly after 9pm on August 13. They concluded that Bimla and Dolly were murdered some time after 9pm on August 13.
When investigators questioned Harshit, he tried to mislead them by continuously changing his version of events; however, he slipped up and mentioned he visited the Rai house on August 14, leading the police to suspect him. Harshit also said he had borrowed ₹4-5 lakh from Shashank and lent it to someone else. He was not able to get the money back and was in dire financial straits.
After sustained interrogation, police said, Harshit confessed to his crime. “After Shashank and Sarthak asked him to check up on the women, he bought a stainless steel knife. He executed the plan on August 13,” the DCP said.
