Cops ready charge sheet in murder of ex-minister’s wife Kitty Kumaramangalam

Kitty Kumaramangalam, a resident of Vasant Vihar, was the wife of former Union minister PR Kumaramangalam and lived alone in her second floor apartment in A-block

The Delhi Police have prepared the charge sheet in the murder of Kitty Kumaramangalam, 70, against the three prime suspects who are in jail, and may submit it to a city court next week, a senior police officer privy to the details said

Kitty Kumaramangalam was killed during a robbery at her house in Vasant Vihar in July. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Kitty, a resident of Vasant Vihar, was the wife of former Union minister PR Kumaramangalam and lived alone in her second floor apartment in A-block. She was found murdered inside her house on the evening of July 7, the police said.

The police said the colony’s laundry man Raju Lakhan Kanojia, 24, and his accomplices Rakesh Raj,34, and Suraj, 24, murdered Kitty before robbing valuables from her house.

As one of the most important pieces of evidence against the three men, police have attached the statement of Kitty’s help, Mithila Devi,33, who was also assaulted by during the robbery. One of the three suspects strangled Mithila and left her for dead after she fell unconscious. She woke up about an hour later and informed the police.

Police said Mithila is the sole eyewitness and also a victim in the case. About 10 days ago, Mithila identified the three men in a test identification parade inside Delhi’s Tihar jail.

In her statement, Mithila said around 8.30pm on July 7, the doorbell rang. When she opened the door, Raju Kanojia along with two men forcibly entered the house.

The police added that the jewellery that the suspects robbed from Kitty and Mithila, and which was recovered from their possession, is also a key evidence against them. “The three accused snatched Mithila’s necklace, nose ring and earrings, which we have seized from them. The recovery of stolen property is admissible as evidence under the Indian Evidence Act. Mithila had also mentioned in the FIR that the three men fled with her three pieces of gold jewellery. She has also identified the three stolen items,” said an officer, who asked not to be named.

According to the first officer, police have attributed the murder to robbery, and named laundryman Raju Lakhan Kanojia as the main accused. In the charge sheet, police have said that Kanojia was lured by a small detachable locker that he often saw inside Kitty’s almirah in the bedroom. “That mini locker has also been retrieved. We also have CCTV footage of the three men entering the building where Kitty lived. They also drank liquor at a roadside vend in PVR Priya. The CCTV camera from near the vend shows their faces. They did not have helmets,” the officer quoted above said.

A second officer aware of the charge sheet details said, “The suspects planned the murder outside the PVR Priya market just hours before they committed it. All three of them were drunk. Raju confessed that he did not know Mithila too would be in the house. Mithila started working for Kitty 4-5 days before the incident. They were confident that Kitty would be alone and did not carry a weapon