Missing Kanpur woman’s body dug up from DM Compound
DCP (east) Shravan Kumar Singh said that Soni initially misled police during the interrogation and said that Ekta was in Kashmir looking for a job
A gym trainer was arrested for allegedly punching a 32-year-old woman in the neck, strangling her with a rope and burying her body in the Kanpur district magistrate’s residential compound — the last bit an idea he lifted from a hit Hindi film — police officers aware of the matter said on Sunday.
The suspect, Vimal Soni (37), was arrested on Saturday. The crime dates back four months, when the victim Ekta Gupta went missing and her husband Rahul Gupta lodged a complaint. Police said the suspect told them the woman had an extramarital affair with him and disapproved of his engagement with another woman, though the victim’s family said Soni kidnapped the woman for ransom.
Deputy commissioner of police (east) Shravan Kumar Singh said that Soni initially misled police during the interrogation and said that Ekta was in Kashmir looking for a job. He later broke down and said he killed her and dumped the body in the Ganga, the officer said.
“We found contradictions in his statements regarding where he disposed of the body. Eventually, he told us about the location,” said Singh.
Soni confessed to killing Ekta in his car, digging a grave 10-feet deep and three-feet wide and burying her there — without being noticed. Officers said they were investigating if the murder was premeditated, though Soni has revealed that he watched the Bollywood film Drishyam — in which the protagonist buries a body within the compound of a police station to avoid suspicion — at least 20 times, which helped him with the modus operandi.
The site where Ekta’s body was exhumed is located five feet away from the sentry post on the campus and is separated by a wall that runs between the club and the DM’s residence. The campus houses residences of many judicial, administrative, and police officers. The body was exhumed around 2am after four hours of digging in the presence of forensic experts and Ekta’s husband, Rahul Gupta.
“We are looking into whether the murder was premeditated as the accused dug a 10-foot grave to ensure the body decomposed quickly,” said additional commissioner of police (law and order) Harish Chander.
According to police, Ekta left the Green Park gym, around 100m away from her house in the Civil Lines area, around 6.30am on June 24 and got into Soni’s car in the parking lot, as shown in CCTV camera footage. During the altercation, Soni punched her after which she fell unconscious. He then strangled the victim, and flattened her seat to make sure she was not visible. On June 25, police found the car outside the house of Soni’s sister in Juhi Military camp, around 7km away from the gym. A piece of cloth, a rope, a broken SIM card and her hair clutch were found in its trunk, according to senior officers.
Police looked into his call record details and traced his phone to near Sarsaiya Ghat at around 7.45am, close to the DM’s residence. At 8.20am, his location was traced near Jhari Baba Parao, after which Soni went incognito. Soni was also seen in the CCTV footage from the compound but Ekta’s family alleged that these details were not looked into.
DCP Singh, said that Soni did not use his phone at all while being on the run. “He withdrew ₹2,000 from an ATM in Agra and returned to Kanpur after running out of money. His location was traced to Mall Road from where he was arrested,” Singh added.
Meanwhile, Ekta’s husband Rahul, an 35-year-old businessman, refuted claims that his wife had an extramarital affair and said the suspect spiked her protein shake to kidnap her for money.
Soni was named in the FIR lodged for kidnapping with the Kotwali police on June 24 by her husband. Soni was first hiding in Amritsar after spending some time in Gwalior. The victim’s family gathered inputs about his whereabouts from his relatives and shared these details with police, people aware of the case said.
Police did not respond to queries regarding the family’s allegations despite repeated requests.
“We kept saying that he kidnapped and murdered her, but police kept deflecting the issue and said it was a romantic entanglement. I wrote to everyone, starting from the commissioner to the PM’s office, but nothing happened,” Rahul said, speaking to reporters after Ekta’s was recovered. The victim’s family also claimed that the evidence found in the car was not put through forensic examination until later.
Police has also said that Soni took the body in his car to the officers’ club through a gate 10 feet away from the site where she was buried. However, width of the gate is 1,676mm, while the car is 1,680 mm wide, which makes it unclear how the suspect managed this. People aware of the matter also said that the gates of the club are also locked from the inside, which points to the question as to how Soni opened it at 7.15am without anyone noticing
Soni has been a personal trainer to several IPS and IAS officers for 15 years, the people said, adding that he has previously been sacked from different places due to inappropriate behaviour.
ACP Chander indicated that police are examining whether Soni acted alone or was assisted in the crime. “We are investigating the case thoroughly, and all angles will be covered,” he said.
Soni was produced before a magistrate on Sunday and remanded to judicial custody. “Police will ensure that the accused is tried in a fast-track court,” the DCP added.