Delhi: Double murder of domestic helps cracked

Police said the five accused had come with ropes, cutters and chloroform late on Sunday to commit burglary. When the women found them and tried to raise an alarm, they killed the two.

The arrested were identified as Raghvendra Kumar, a candidate of an examination, Vikas Kumar, Sanjay Kumar and Anish Chahar. (File)

Days after two domestic workers were killed inside their employer’s house in South Delhi’s Jangpura Extension, the Delhi Police arrested five men for allegedly smothering the women to death and stealing Rs 90 lakh from the house.

Police said the five accused had come with ropes, cutters and chloroform late on Sunday to commit burglary. When the women found them and tried to raise an alarm, they killed the two.

On Monday, police had received a call from the owner of the house after they found one of their domestic helps, Meena Rai (35), lying dead on the first floor. Her hands and legs were tied with plastic ropes. Her mouth was taped. They found another domestic help, Sujaila Gurung (40), lying dead in a room on the second floor. Both women hailed from Darjeeling, and their husbands work in Gurgaon.

Read | Delhi: Day after double murder, motive eludes investigators

During the investigation, police recovered CCTV footage, showing five masked men walking outside the house on the night of the incident. The men are seen standing outside with bags and masks.

Esha Pandey, DCP (Southeast) said, “We checked other CCTVs and found they left the area on a bike. However, the number wasn’t visible. Our team then mapped CCTVs before the incident and analysed the footage. The bike number was traced and the owner was identified as Sachit Saxena”

Police sent teams to catch Saxena. On Wednesday, he was caught with his associates Prashant Basista (22), Dhananjay, Ramesh and Aniket.

“They had robbed the house and were planning to flee to different states. They were frequently changing hideouts. Our team managed to arrest them within two days,” said the police.

Story continues below this ad

During interrogation, it was revealed that Saxena is the nephew of one a domestic worker who previously worked at the Jangpura house. He knew the owners kept cash inside the house and planned the burglary with his friends.

“They were ready to attack the owners had they caught them. To evade arrest, the accused were using VOIP or internet calls to communicate,” said the officer.
Police said that the men went outside the house on Sunday night at 10 pm. They waited for 3-4 hours. Around 2 am, four of them jumped the wall and entered the house from the back door. They entered Meena’s room but she woke up. They used chloroform to overpower her and did the same with Sujaila.

While Basista works at a private insurance company, Jha, Ramesh and Dhananjay are school dropouts. They all have all been booked for murder and dacoity.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags:
delhi