Life terms for husband,two servants

While sentencing them for life,in the 150-page judgment,the court identified extra marital affair of Talla as the motive behind the gruesome murder. “It was a deep rooted conspiracy knitted by Baljinder alias Talla with his servants. Talla wanted to get rid of Anuradha and then marry another woman,Noor Kataria,” said the Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Gian Chand Garg in the order.

The murder plot: To make it look like a typical murder committed for robbery by servants,Nikku first drugged Anuradha by adding some poisonous substance to her dinner on the night of May 17,2008. He then called Ashok inside the house,increased the volume of the two television sets in the house and locked the room from outside,where the children were sleeping. The duo then went into Anuradha’s room and while Nikku caught her hands as she protested,Ashok pulled out a sharp weapon and slit her throat. After collecting cash of Rs 3 lakh and jewellery from the almirah,the duo then went to another flat of Baljinder and asked the domestic help Sunil to come along. They threatened him and made him sit on their bike. The three then made their way to Ropar where they killed Sunil and disfigured his face. They then placed Nikku’s documents by his side to hoodwink investigators. The investigators initially assumed that Nikku committed Anuradha’s murder and got killed in Ropar,as the police found Nikku’s documents near a body with a disfigured face.

Excerpts from the judgment

Accused hid facts: “Baljinder was well aware that in case he discloses the number of the motorcycle of his servant to Chandigarh Police,then there is a possibility of accused Vijay Pal and Ashok Kumar being nabbed,” the court said. Knowing his servant had escaped after the murder,Talla never called on the mobile phone of servant Nikku and called on the mobile number of his wife Anuradha upon which his daughter responded and he asked his daughter for opening the door. “Nikku had been serving him for the last six years and was available in the house. Had he come by chance without knowing anything about the occurrence,he should have called Nikku on phone to unbolt the door from inside. It seems that he knew that Nikku was not available in the house as per conspiracy amongst the three,” the court pointed out. Talla also concealed the address of Nikku in his first statements to the police. “Intentionally he did not furnish the address of Nikku,so that he may not be nabbed by the police,” observed the court.

If it was robbery,why was she murdered? Talla told court that he had cordial relations with Anuradha and they used to frequently have family outings. “If this was so,it cannot be said that Nikku got no opportunity to commit robbery in their absence,if he wanted to do so.

Another house: Talla had another house in Chandigarh,unknown to his family,but Nikku was well aware of it. Sunil Kumar was employed by Talla as servant in the other house. The police had also raided this house and discovered a fake licence of Noor Kataria,following which she was arrested and questioned for the murder.

Daughter heard it: When her daughter called on Nikku’s mobile after the murder,someone answered stating that “other dead body can be located in the area of Ropar”. She had stated the facts in her statements to the police.