The body of a missing model was recovered from a canal in Sonipat Monday with slit marks around her neck, the police said, adding that she had left home two days ago allegedly to shoot a music album. A man believed to be her boyfriend has been taken into custody. Officers identified the deceased as Sheetal alias Simmi Chaudhary, 27, based on the tattoos on her hand and chest. The body was found in Reliance Canal at Kharkhoda in Sonipat district. According to the police, the deceased woman’s sister, Neha, told them that on Saturday she contacted Sheetal via a video call after which her phone went out of coverage. During the call, Sheetal allegedly revealed that her boyfriend Sunil was assaulting her. On Sunday morning, the police recovered Sunil's car from a canal in Panipat district and he was reportedly rescued from the car. Sunil was taken to a hospital from where officers took him into custody on Monday. Ajit Singh, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Sonipat, said Sheetal’s family had lodged a complaint stating that she had gone missing. “The complaint was registered at Panipat's Urlana Kalan police post, after which officers started investigating. Eventually, the body of a woman matching her description was recovered from the canal in Kharkhoda today (Monday) and the family identified her. We are further investigating the matter,” he added. Neha told the police that on Saturday, Sheetal left home saying that she was going to Ahar village to shoot for an upcoming album. According to her, Sheetal met Israna native Sunil around six months ago when she worked at his hotel there. “When Sheetal discovered that Sunil was married and had two children, she left her hotel job and started pursuing her modelling career. But Sunil kept chasing her. At midnight on Saturday, Sheetal contacted me over a video call and said that she had finished her work and would reach home soon. She mentioned that Sunil had reached the place where she was shooting and assaulted her,” Neha told the police. “She (Sheetal) said Sunil was forcibly trying to take her with him. The call got disconnected midway. After that, I kept trying to connect but could not. On Sunday morning, I got to know that Sunil's car was found in a canal,” she added. Investigators, meanwhile, said that Sunil was thought to be a good swimmer and they were yet to determine how his car fell into the canal and why he did not swim out of the water on his own. They have not ruled out the possibility that he may have been trying to stage an “accidental drowning” in which he got rescued while Sheetal got swept away.
