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Double murder convict out on parole held for choking another woman in Ludhiana
After the crime, he fled to Basti district of UP from where he was arrested on Sunday. Police said the accused had planned to flee to Nepal from there.
A week after a 30-year-old woman was found dead at her house in Jain Enclave on Bhamiyan Road, cops arrested an Uttar Pradesh (UP) resident, facing life imprisonment in a 2003 double murder case, for the crime. He had been released on parole due to the pandemic outbreak.
The accused, Mohan Singh, 45, who is a resident of Maharajgunj of UP, had allegedly killed the victim, Megha Malhotra, 30, for money. After the crime, he fled to Basti district of UP from where he was arrested on Sunday. Police said the accused had planned to flee to Nepal from there.
During initial interrogation, the accused told the police that he had painted the doors and windows of the woman’s house some time ago. During the stint, he had seen the woman keep some cash in the almirah and hatched a conspiracy to rob it.
Police commissioner Rakesh Agrawal said, “The accused deliberately left the painting work incomplete. On May 10, when the woman called him again to finish the pending work, the accused, who had figured out the family’s daily schedule, waited for the victim’s husband, Karan Malhotra, to leave before he turned up at the spot.”
“When he was convinced that the woman was alone, the accused tried to snatch the woman’s handbag. When she resisted, he grabbed her and strangulated her to death with the handkerchief that he was using as a facemask,” said the police commissioner.
The victim’s two-year-old son was sleeping inside the house at the time. The police chief said the accused was not aware of the toddler’s presence else he may have murdered him too.
Cops have recovered ₹5,000 cash, the woman’s handbag, her Aadhar card and debit card from the accused’s possession. He was produced before the court on Monday and sent to five-day police custody.
Was released on parole due to pandemic
Jamalpur station house officer (SHO), inspector Kulwant Singh Malhi said after finding out about the painter and his past criminal record, police started zeroing in on him and nabbed him from Uttar Pradesh.
He added that the accused had earlier murdered a 39-year-old woman, Poonam, and her 17-year-old domestic help, Chhottu, in Shastri Nagar of Model Town on May 22, 2003. The accused was convicted in the double murder case and awarded life imprisonment. However, due to the pandemic, he was released on parole in June 2020. The accused then started living in a rented accommodation in Heaven City in Badal Colony of Mundian Kalan. As per the police, his landlord is also facing trial in criminal cases.
The crime
The victim, Megha Malhotra, was found murdered in her house at May 10. The neighbours were the first to learn of the incident after they were alerted by the victim’s toddler son’s cries. They immediately rang up the victim’s husband who rushed home and informed the police. The case has been registered under Section 302 (murder) with Section 303 (murder by life-convict) of the Indian Penal Code. Police will be attaching a copy of the judgment in the 2003 double murder case with the FIR.
