To kill Delhi designer, 3 accused bought butcher knives: Police

The three men had been working in the workshop located in her bungalow complex throughout the day.

The three men, Anwar, Wasim and Rehmat, who killed Mala Lakhani at her Vasant Kunj Enclave house on Wednesday night, had failed in their first attempt to kill her the same night because of her domestic help Bahadur, who had been working with her for the last 18 years.

Mala Lakhani and her domestic help were found dead at her house in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj on November 14. (ANI Photo)

Police said the three had earlier grouped together around 9pm but were deterred by Bahadur’s presence around Lakhani.

The three men had been working in the workshop located in her bungalow complex throughout the day.

Police said the alleged killers had then re-grouped around 10.30pm for the murder.

During their interrogation, the police found they had been planning the murder since last Sunday. Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Devender Arya said that Anwar told police that they had bought four knives, usually used by butchers, from a weekly market on Sunday.

“On Thursday around 2.45am when the three men surrendered, Anwar and Rehmat had knife injuries on their hands. The duty officer alerted the station house officer of police station and he alerted me,” the DCP said adding that police recovered the knives.

“We also collected their fingerprints from the stolen valuables. Their call details were also checked to establish the sequence of incidents. We also checked the CCTV footages from Lakhani’s house. The cameras installed on the gate have captured them entering the house and leaving in her car,” Arya said.

Police said Anwar had partial access to Lakhani’s bungalow. “He had keys of the workshop and the main gate, but he did not have keys for the main house. Only Bahadur had those,” police said.

Early on Thursday morning, Lakhani’s neighbours had gathered around her house.

Nusrut Ahmed, who was returning home around 11pm from her husband’s office nearby, said that she was scared to imagine that at the time she was returning home, her neighbour was being killed.

“It’s scary to imagine. My sister who lives in the same building was up till 3am and she was the one to spot police movement in Lakhani’s house,” the woman said.

Not more than 50 meters from Lakhani’s house is a farmhouse owned by an international-level former cricketer. The caretaker of farmhouse said he had often spotted Anwar in the locality.

“We recognised each other but barely ever had a conversation. He had been here for past 3-4 years,” said Munchun Yadav who said he has been employed at the farmhouse since April.

Locals said another bungalow next to hers is owned by a current Indian cricketer but this could not be independently verified by Hindustan Times.