13 former employees detained in Lajpat Nagar murder

A day after a 62-year-old was found murdered, her head smashed with a hammer, at Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi, police have detained 13 of her former employees, inducing domestic helps, watchmen, drivers and cooks, for questioning.

A day after a 62-year-old was found murdered, her head smashed with a hammer, at Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi, police have detained 13 of her former employees, inducing domestic helps, watchmen, drivers and cooks, for questioning.

62-year-old Vimla Rani Ahuja was found dead, her head smashed with a hammer, in Lajpat Nagar area in southeast Delhi on Sunday afternoon. Her house was ransacked and Rs 10 lakh cash was missing from the cupboard, police said.

Sources said that one man, a former domestic help, was spotted in the CCTV footage accessed from the entry- exit gate of the colony.

In the footage, he is seen carrying a yellow packet and entering the colony. It is, however, not clear if he went to , Vimla Rani Ahuja’s residence or not.

“He is seen entering the gate of the colony at 2.45 pm. The murder and robbery was reported around 3.30 pm. He has been detained for questioning. He claims he also works at other households in the area and was going there. We are yet to verify his claims,” a senior police officer said.

Read: Elderly woman brutally killed in Lajpat Nagar, Rs 10 lakh stolen

The investigators suspect the involvement of employees working at the leather bag store owned by Ahuja’s husband. The police have made a list of its employees and have accessed their call detail records.

“Some of Ahuja’s employees who transfer the cash from the shop to their home knew that the family kept the money in the cupboard next to the kitchen. The killers did not ransack the entire house and directly went to the almirah, which shows they knew where Ajuja kept all the cash and the jewellery,” an investigator said.

We strongly suspect the involvement of an insider, a confidant of the family. Based on our investigation, we have zeroed in on a few employees who were trusted with the responsibility of taking cash home and have asked them to join the probe.” he said.

The police have accessed CCTV footage from the store where the employees work.