Anchor Arpita Tiwari’s murder: A month on, friend arrested in Mumbai

Tiwari, 25, was found dead at Manavsthal Heights, a high-rise in Malwani in Malad (West), where Hazra lived, on December 11

More than a month after emcee Arpita Tiwari’s death, her friend Amit Hazra was arrested on charges of murder on Monday.

The circumstances surrounding Tiwari’s death were mysterious (FILE)

Tiwari, 25, was found dead at Manavsthal Heights, a high-rise in Malwani in Malad (West), where Hazra lived, on December 11. She had come to the apartment with her boyfriend Pankaj Jadhav. The trio went out drinking and returned to Hazra’s apartment around 3am. Tiwari’s body was found in the duct of the building around 7.30am.

The circumstances surrounding Tiwari’s death were mysterious. Initially, the police thought it was suicide and filed an accidental death report. The bathroom window was found open, leading the police to believe she jumped off the bathroom.

Tiwari’s father Triveninath approached the police alleging foul play, after which a case of murder was registered. “We have placed Hazra under arrest based on scientific evidence gathered during the course of investigation,” said Mumbai police spokesperson and deputy commissioner of police Deepak Devraj.

There was no CCTV footage from the high-rise as the cameras were defunct. The police also did a dummy test by throwing a dummy approximately the height and weight of Tiwari. Hazra and Tiwari’s boyfriend, were among the suspects, who were questioned repeatedly. During questioning, the help allegedly changed his statement. In his initial statement, he said he had seen someone touch Tiwari inappropriately, but retracted it later.

Hazra and four others underwent a lie-detector test recently to ascertain the sequence of events. The four others included Tiwari’s boyfriend, two other friends of Hazra who stayed in the apartment and his help. “During the custody, we will question him to determine the motive behind the murder,” said an officer from Malwani police station.

He was produced before a metropolitan court and has been remanded in police custody till January 20.