Nand Nagri murder solved: Delhi Police arrest victim’s partner

According to police, Devender Kumar killed Asha Devi at a Harsh Vihar property she owned after an altercation triggered by his wish to get married to another woman.

A day after the decomposed body of a 60-year-old woman was found stuffed inside a bed box at a vacant property in northeast Delhi, police on Saturday arrested her 30-year-old partner for her murder, officers aware of the case said.

The victim’s son filed a missing person’s complaint on December 13. (File)

According to police, Devender Kumar killed Asha Devi at a property she owned at Harsh Vihar in Nand Nagri after an altercation triggered by his wish to get married to another woman.

Giving details of the case, Devi, who lived with her daughter in Dilshad Garden. The woman owned some properties around Nand Nagri that were rented out.

Deputy commissioner of police (north east) Joy Tirkey said on December 10, Devi went to collect rent from her tenants in Nand Nagri and went missing thereafter. Three days later, her son Mahavir Singh filed a missing person’s complaint.

According to police, on Friday, Devi’s relatives who live on the first floor of her Harsh Vihar property reported that a foul smell was coming from the ground floor, which was owned by Devi but was vacant for the last few months. “A police team reached the spot and opened the bed box, and found Devi’s dead body wrapped in plastic kept inside it,” Tirkey said.

A case of kidnapping and murder was registered and investigation was taken up, he said.

Investigators said they zeroed in on Kumar, a tenant who lived in Devi’s property, who was also missing since December 10. “The team tracked him to Aligarh and apprehended him on Saturday. He was brought to Nand Nagri police station and interrogated. During sustained interrogation, he admitted to having killed Devi,” Tirkey said.

Police said Kumar had gotten engaged to a woman on December 4, and was planning to get married to her in February. Devi, however, was unhappy with his upcoming marriage, police said, quoting Kumar’s statement.

“According to Kumar, Devi slapped him and he retaliated by hitting her on the head with a brick. He also tried to throttle her. He then bought 20 meters of plastic sheet from a nearby shop, wrapped her body in it, and stuffed it inside the bed box on the ground floor,” Tirkey said.