‘He killed pregnant woman to save family’

An Army officer who was arrested for killing his 26-year-old pregnant girlfriend has confessed to the crime to save his job and marriage, the police said on Friday.

An Army officer who was arrested for killing his 26-year-old pregnant girlfriend has confessed to the crime to save his job and marriage, the police said on Friday.

Colonel Amardeep Singh Manku, resident of Mulaheda village in Gurgaon, was court martialled by the Army and handed over to the police. He was produced in the district court on Thursday and sent to four-day police remand.

Singh, who was posted at Jabalpur unit, was arrested after Sohna resident Rekha was found killed in Ghata village, Sector 56, on May 19.

According to police, Singh admitted during the interrogation that he hired a contract killer for R1 lak to kill Rekha.

The police have also apprehended 32-year-old Ramji Yadav, who was posted at the Army headquarters in Delhi and Colonel Amardeep's driver Umesh, hailing from UP, for helping Singh.

On Thursday, police officials said Ramji Yadav told interrogators that he was in a relationship with Rekha. Yadav said that after becoming pregnant, she had been pressuring him to marry her.

Now, citing Singh's confession, the police said that Singh had an extramarital relationship with Rekha. Both met two years back when she was working with Dhingra Motors in Gurgaon.

Singh, who hails from Kota in Rajasthan, was posted in Jabalpur. He was in constant touch with Rekha and used to financially support her.

"I was fed up with Rekha as she often used to blackmail me to disclose the relation to my wife. Then I planned to kill her," Singh said, adding that he took the help of Yadav, who had earlier worked with him.

This was the second time she became pregnant. In December also she became pregnant and the colonel forced her to undergo an abortion.