2-year-old ‘honour killing’ in Delhi turns out plot to eliminate family over financial dispute

AK Singla, additional commissioner of police (crime branch), said the UP Police had “wrongly concluded” that the woman’s family killed her. “Their disappearance had led the UP Police to accuse and charge sheet them for the crime in March,” the officer said.

Two years after a 23-year-old Delhi school teacher was murdered and her parents and brother went missing — prompting the Uttar Pradesh police to book and charge sheet her missing family members for ‘honour’ killing — the Delhi Police on Thursday said they have arrested a man who had allegedly murdered all the four members of the family over a monetary dispute.

Delhi Police arrested Abhishek Pal, the man who allegedly killed four members of a family in Delhi and dumped their bodies in a canal in UP's Hapur in July 2016, in New Delhi, on Thursday, November 1, 2018. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

AK Singla, additional commissioner of police (crime branch), said the UP Police had “wrongly concluded” that the woman’s family killed her. “Their disappearance had led the UP Police to accuse and charge sheet them for the crime in March,” the officer said.

Singla said there were two killers — Abhishek Pal, who has been arrested, and a 16-year-old boy who died in a road accident last November. “The minor would get drunk and boast of killing four people. The word spread and someone tipped us off last Sunday after which we arrested Pal,” said Singla.

Naina Kirodiwal was a teacher at a private school and lived with her parents, Ved Prakash and Sadhna, and 20-year-old brother, Shubham, in north Delhi’s Wazirabad. Her father owned three garments shops in Majnu Ka Tilla. Ritesh Katiyar was Prakash’s assistant.

As per the Delhi Police’s version of events, Prakash had leased one of his shops to Katiyar. “Katiyar incurred losses and borrowed money from Prakash. Their common friend, Abhishek Pal was Katiyar’s guarantor,” said Singla.

When the money wasn’t returned, Prakash began pressuring Pal and Katiyar. “Pal discussed the problem with Prakash’s nephew and former employee Sonu who suggested murdering his uncle. Sonu was disgruntled with his uncle for being kicked out of job and also had an eye on his business and properties,” said Singla.

“Pal has told us that Katiyar committed suicide in Uttar Pradesh in late 2016. We are verifying it and his role in the murders,” said Singla.

Pal, meanwhile, allegedly roped in a 16-year-old “budding criminal” for the murder. On July 15, 2016, the duo allegedly called Prakash out of his home. “As soon as Prakash stepped into Pal’s car, they strangled him with a clutch wire. They dumped Prakash’s body in the boot of Pal’s car,” said Singla.

Prakash’s son Shubham was killed around 2 pm. “The killers suspected that Shubham had seen them with Prakash. He too was lured out of his home and killed the same way. Their bodies were then hidden at Pal’s home,” said Singla.

Prakash’s wife Sadhna was also strangled at 6 pm, allegedly because she had seen Shubham in the company of the killers. “They killed Naina using the same clutch wire at 8.30pm, simply because they finally decided to wipe out the entire family,” said Singla.

The bodies of the mother-daughter were allegedly hidden in the car which they parked overnight on a street. Perfumes and window curtains helped conceal the smell and blood on the car seat.

“As they planned their next step, they realised that Naina had brought along her house keys. They entered her house and stole the keys to the family’s Santro car. The next evening, they moved all the four bodies to the boot and back seat of the Santro at a closed public school in the neighbourhood,” said the officer.

The alleged killers sought help from two people, who the Delhi police hope to use as witnesses.

“The Santro car was driven to a canal in Dhaulana, UP, in the early hours of July 17, 2016. They dumped all the four bodies in the canal and pushed the car into the water. Naina’s body was found near the car on July 18. The bodies of her parents and brother were never recovered,” said Singla.

The local police had registered a murder case and allegedly blamed the missing trio of honour killing. “The relatives of the dead aren’t aware of Naina’s relationship with anyone, but maybe the UP Police found some clue in the call records. The presence of her father’s car near the crime spot added to their suspicion,” said an investigator.