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Kanpur woman, 30, held for hiring men who stabbed father-in-law 26 times
DCP West SM Qasim Abidi said Shalu was detained after Vishal Gautam and Raj Kishore, 30, allegedly told police that they killed the businessman on her orders
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A 30-year-old woman was detained by the police on Monday in connection with the murder of her 63-year-old father-in-law, a prominent city pharmaceutical trader, who was found dead at home inside a gated apartment complex with 26 stab wounds on September 5, police said.
Police said they were investigating allegations that the woman, Shalu Vinocha, ordered a hit on her multi-millionaire father-in-law, Vineet Vinocha, to end his tight control over the household’s finances.
Deputy commissioner of police West SM Qasim Abidi said Shalu was detained after the family’s domestic help, Vishal Gautam, 30, and his alleged accomplice Raj Kishore, 30, allegedly told police that they killed the businessman on her orders. The two were arrested late Sunday night after sustaining leg wounds during a gunfight with the police.
Abidi said investigators were checking her statement against her call detail records and other evidence. Her role in the murder is yet to be established, he said.
Shalu allegedly told the police that she and her husband had no control over their finances and that, like their employees, they were given a fixed monthly amount and had to request any additional amount from him.
Police said the family ran Pharma Traders, a wholesale pharmaceutical business on Birhana Road with an annual turnover of over ₹40 crore, with his son Subrat. Vineet was alone at home over the weekend. His wife Punita, a marriage counsellor, was on a visit to Ghaziabad. Their daughter Subhani and son-in-law, both engineers, live in Gurugram.
Stabbed more than 26 times
Vineet was stabbed more than 26 times inside his flat at Ratan Orbit apartment in Kalyanpur on the night intervening September 5-6.
Police said he was killed between 10:30pm on Saturday and 3am on Sunday when Vineet’s son, daughter-in-law and grandson had gone to a party. When they returned, they found the main door of the flat open and Vineet’s body lying on the floor of a room.
When the police examined CCTV footage, they saw two men entering the flat. One of them was later identified as Vishal, the domestic help. At 11.29 pm, another man was also seen near a neighbour’s flat to make a delivery. A short while later, Vishal was seen leaving Vinocha’s room and the flat, followed by another man whose face was covered.
Security guards had refused to let them in
Ratan Orbit security in-charge Madan told police that when Vishal reached the apartment with Raj Kishore, he had initially refused to let them in. But Vishal then spoke to Shalu over the phone. She allegedly told the security guard to let them in, saying that the men had come with medicines.
UP Retail Chemists and Distributors Association secretary Rajendra Saini said the family had been in the pharmaceutical trade for three generations.
Vineet’s father started the business in 1968, which he later took over, while his son Subrat was also involved in running it, Saini said.
