Monika Ghurde murder: Cops recover knife from flat

MUMBAI: The Goa police investigating the murder case of perfumer Monika Ghurde have recovered the knife, which the accused used to threaten Ghurde before killing

MUMBAI: The Goa police investigating the murder case of perfumer Monika Ghurde have recovered the knife, which the accused used to threaten Ghurde before killing her.

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Raj Kumar Singh, 22, said during his interrogation that he spent most of the Rs1 lakh he withdrew from her account on clothes and accommodation.

Following a sustained interrogation, the police have recovered the 7.5-inch-long knife from Ghurde’s kitchen. Singh had hid it in a shelf in the kitchen, police said. Investigating officials have learnt that Singh borrowed the knife from one of his friends.

“He told his friend that he needs the knife and promised to return it later. We are trying to identify the person who gave him the knife. Singh said the person did not know why he was borrowing the knife,” said Vimal Gupta, deputy inspector general, Goa.

The police are jotting down the sequence of events leading up to the murder and the aftermath where he escaped to Bengaluru and then to Mangalore.

Singh withdrew Rs1 lakh from Ghurde’s account at various ATM kiosks. He claimed during his interrogation that he spent most of the cash on purchasing clothes and staying in Bengaluru and Mangalore. The police will visit the shops and hotels where Singh stopped by or stayed while on the run. Officials said they will record statements of the shopkeepers and hotel staff to collect evidence.

Singh, a native of Bhatinda in Punjab, moved to Goa to work as a security guard. Born to farmers, Singh studied till class ten in Haryana and then completed his first year of Bachelors of Commerce through a distance-learning programme.

“Although he has admitted to the crime, he is not remorseful while talking about the events of the day he killed Ghurde. He is giving very factual responses to our questions and behaving like a hardened criminal,” said Gupta.

Singh barged into Ghurde’s apartment around 6.30pm on October 5 while brandishing the knife at her. He tied her to the bed and raped her multiple times after showing her pornographic clips on his phone.

During his nine-hour stay in the apartment, he boiled eggs and ate it, apart from eating chocolates and ice-cream as Ghurde was tied to the bed.

He fled around 3.30am on October 6 after smothering her using a pillow.

Police said he viewed Ghurde as the only person responsible for him being removed from his job. He has been plotting to take revenge since he was expelled, however, the police are checking when he started plotting the attack.