Swiss woman murder in Delhi: Police look into money, trafficking angle as several crores found in bank account of accused

Delhi police sources said they have now sought the assistance of Income Tax officials to ascertain the source of the money.

The accused, 33-year-old Gurpreet Singh, is a resident of Janakpuri. He met Nina Berger on a dating app in 2021 while he was travelling to Zurich, Switzerland, to meet his relatives. However, police said, Singh soon started pressuring Berger into marrying him and proposed to her 5-6 times. She rejected his proposal citing multiple reasons even as they continued dating, said police.

Feeling dejected, police said Singh started suspecting Berger of having an affair.

Berger’s body was found near an MCD-run school in West Delhi last week. Singh was arrested after CCTV footage showed a “turban-clad” man and a white car on October 18, the date of incident, near the spot, said DCP (West) Vichitra Veer.

“We have found the chains, plastic bag and other evidence he used to chain and wrap the woman with before strangling her. It is still difficult to establish his motive because he has been changing his statements every hour or so. Initially, he even lied about knowing the woman or going to Switzerland. But we have evidence that he visited that place multiple times and was in touch with the woman,” said Veer.

Meanwhile, investigators, while trying to look for murder evidence, raided Singh’s house and found Rs 2 crore cash which the accused could offer no explanation for, they said. “Further checking of bank accounts and assets revealed several more crores. We are shocked since we don’t know the sources but since it is in nationalised bank accounts, it can’t be all black money… It could be his family’s money…” said an officer.

Veer refused to comment on the amount found in Singh’s bank accounts.

Meanwhile, police said they are yet to receive information from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Swiss Embassy about Berger’s family. “It looks like they haven’t been able to trace the woman’s family. We only have a few details based on Singh’s interrogation and her documents. We are seeking help from MEA to find the family at the earliest,” said another officer.

Police to add human trafficking charges in the case

On Sunday, senior officers, who refused to be named, said they are contemplating adding human trafficking charges against Singh after analysing his phone.

A source close to the investigation said, “We have found multiple photos of Singh with different women and girls. There are videos as well. We also found chats between him and these women/girls. We suspect he was involved in human trafficking in and around Delhi-NCR. Though he has not confessed to anything yet, there’s strong technical evidence.”

Singh’s car, which was purchased on October 8, was also found registered in the name of a friend who is suspected of being involved in sex work. The woman is also being questioned since it was her car which was used to kill the Swiss national, said police. Police said it was a pre-planned murder with Singh “torturing” Berger into marrying him and allegedly killing her when she refused to do so.