In posh West Delhi locality, a brutal killing and a suspect no one saw coming

Accompanying the couple was Amita’s family — her mother, Vandana Bhardwaj, and her sister, Radhika.

Their first stop was Khajana Jewellers in Rajouri Garden — the market was West Delhi’s answer to South Delhi’s shopping hubs like Sarojini Nagar and South Extension. The family watched as Amita excitedly picked up shimmery gold bangles and starry diamond-studded chokers.

Amita had been seeing Abhishek for three years now. She had told her family way back in 2013 that Abhishek was the man of her dreams, her life partner.

Her family loved Abhishek — he embodied everything they craved for in a son-in-law. Tall and lanky, he had taken over the responsibilities of the Bhardwaj family after Amita’s father, Prithviraj, had passed away a year earlier.

The Bhardwaj family, meanwhile, lived in a swanky three-bedroom apartment in Rajouri Garden Extension.

Abhishek, too, seemed well off. He had told the family, the police said, about his father’s contracting business in Bihar. He had bragged about a ‘penthouse’ his father owns in Delhi and given on rent. He also spoke about a departmental store that he ostensibly owned in Patna.

Abhishek would, however, need money for some of his ‘ventures’ every now and then — especially when his father “disagreed” with his business plans. According to a police officer, Abhishek had asked for Rs 15 lakh from Amita for a business he claimed he was trying to start in Delhi. In September 2015, he had also taken a loan of Rs 5 lakh from Amita’s mother to buy an i20 car.

At the jewellery store, it was Abhishek’s turn to pay for the wedding finery. After all, he was the groom and was expected to buy his future wife’s first set of jewellery for the wedding. Once Amita selected what she wanted, a police officer said, the bill had already crossed Rs 10 lakh.

“At 5.30 pm”, the police officer said, “Abhishek, Amita, Radhika, and Vandana gathered at Tite Da Dhaba for snacks. Amita’s brother Deepanshu, 17, also joined them. However, he left soon”.

By 6.15 pm, the family arrived at another showroom, Kalyan Jewellers in Karol Bagh. “Abhishek told Amita he had forgotten his card at home and would quickly fetch it. He left the store immediately,” the police officer said.

That evening, Jatin (35), a distant cousin of Amita, was to visit the family. He knew the women were out shopping and Deepanshu was alone, waiting for him at the family residence. But when Jatin reached the Bhardwaj residence at 8.30 pm, he found it locked.

“Jatin called Deepanshu, who didn’t answer. He dialed Vandana, who also tried her son’s number. There was no response,” a police officer said.

Vandana would later tell the police that she then called her soon-to-be son-in-law. “He was yet to return with his credit card. After the call, he went to the Bhardwaj home, where Jatin was waiting. Soon, the women arrived, the police said.

At 9.15 pm, they made a PCR call.

When the police team arrived, they had to force open several locked doors before gaining access to the apartment. The Bhardwaj family lived on the second floor of an upscale four-storey building. The entrance to the stairway leading to their floor was locked, prompting officers to break it open. They then entered the gallery, forcing open the interlock on the main door of the flat located at the end of the corridor.

Murder most foul

A police officer, who was part of the probe, recalled that as soon as the door was opened, they smelt LPG — the flat reeked so strongly of it that even switching on a TV could have burnt the officers to ashes.

“We first looked for the kitchen and turned off the gas. We assumed that maybe the boy was in one of the rooms, having fallen unconscious due to the gas,” the officer said.

Deepanshu was indeed found in his own room — he was dead, his head smashed in on the left side, police said.

The crime scene, police said, was confusing. “The curtains and bedsheet were half burnt. It seemed as if the killer planned to burn down the flat along with an unconscious Deepanshu, but it didn’t work out,” the officer said.

Police found his laptop still switched on right next to his body on the bed. A nail cutter was placed on a side table, with freshly clipped nail pieces stuck in it. A forensic examination of the nail cutter would later conclude that Deepanshu had cut his nails right before his death.

“It was clear that Deepanshu wasn’t aware of the danger till he was attacked,” the police officer said. “There were no signs of resistance. Everything inside the house was untouched. The doors were locked from the outside, which meant the murderer had access to the house keys.” Investigators concluded that the murderer wasn’t a stranger. Once police made their initial inquiries, they found Abhishek’s absence suspicious.

“We asked the family about Abhishek. We wanted to know where he went once he left them in Karol Bagh. They didn’t like it. They were not even ready to consider the possibility of questioning Abhishek. For them, he was the best thing that had happened to their family since the death of Amita’s father,’’ the police officer said. “He was like their son, after all”.

Of course, the wedding was cancelled.

On November 21, Deepanshu’s final rites were done after a detailed post-mortem was conducted.

Another police officer recalled that he saw Abhishek reprimanding Amita to stop grieving so much. “Abhishek was very aggressive. He was telling Amita to accept her brother’s death. ‘The past is past’, he told her, and that she needs to move on,’’ the officer said. “It seemed like he was almost berating her for grieving this big loss. This added to our suspicions.”

On November 21, soon after sundown, investigators summoned Abhishek for questioning at the Rajouri Garden police station.

And after over six hours, he broke down.

“Initially, he denied his involvement in the crime. He told the police that he was getting married and had no reason to harm Amita’s family,” a police officer said.

The police, however, had looked into his background before questioning him.

He was no prince charming, and certainly not a rich man, police said. “Abhishek lived on rent in Kirti Nagar. His parents lived on Kanti Factory Road in Patna, and his father was an employee in a private firm,” a police official said.

He wasn’t even an intelligent criminal, police said. He assumed he could get away with murder. “It’s possible that he didn’t escape because he didn’t want to. He just killed the only male heir of the family. And it helped his case that the women of the house looked up to him,” said the police officer.

And once the police pieced together what Abhishek admitted to, they found a story of a man driven by greed from the very beginning.

The story unravels

It was in 2010 that Abhishek arrived in Delhi from Patna, looking for a job. He soon found an opening at a call centre in West Delhi and was living in a rented accommodation in Rajouri Garden. He soon opened a small travel company, The Travel Express.

Amita, Abhishek told the police, joined his company in 2011 as a ticketing agent. He initially showed little interest in her, but that changed once he learned that Amita’s father was a property dealer.

“He heard from employees that Amita was working because she wanted to, but was financially well off. He then started talking to her and bragging about his father’s contracting business,” a police officer said.

During questioning, Abhishek told police that Amita was “inspired” by his success and fell in love with him. They entered into a relationship and Abhishek started visiting her frequently.

His plan, police said, was never to marry her.

“He looked at her as a means to make easy money. He would take expensive things from her and sell them off. He bought the i20 car and sold it. He would come up with elaborate explanations and Amita would believe him,” a police officer said.

Abhishek made himself integral to Amita’s life, especially when her father became critically ill in 2013. He started visiting the family home regularly and helped them. He would accompany Amita’s father to the hospital, fetching his medicines, and accompanying her mother and sister on errands.

In 2014, police said, the family conveyed to Abhishek that they wanted him to marry Amita. “Abhishek was now in a bind. He didn’t want to marry her. His aim was only to usurp her money for some more time and then vanish. He even started to find a way to break off the relationship,” a police officer said. But as his greed was insatiable, he couldn’t leave.

In late 2014, her father passed away — and this was Abhishek’s way out. The marriage was postponed, giving him more time to plan his exit.

“Abhishek thought he could get some more money from Amita before he left. But his lifestyle didn’t allow him to leave,” the officer said.

Come September 2015, and Abhishek was still lounging in the Bhardwaj’s apartment, he would tell the police.

He never invited Amita to his place, always having an excuse at hand. “He told her that his friends were often drinking in his flat and she would be uncomfortable there,” a police officer said.

By this time, Amita was eager to get married and Abhishek had no option but to oblige.

The date was set.

Abhishek realised he needed to do something. “He remembered what delayed the wedding last time. He thought that a death in the family would be the only way to postpone it again,” the officer said.

Police said his phone’s internet history showed he looked up “how to kill someone and not get caught”. His research led him to believe that burning someone’s body after killing them, along with the scene of the crime, would be the perfect plan, the officer said.

“He knew that the crime had to take place at Bhardwaj family house, as he could come and go as he pleased. He chose Deepanshu as his target on the day of shopping, as he knew that it was a rare occasion that no one would be home — barring the boy,” a police officer would later say.

In the evening of November 20, Abhishek left Karol Bagh with the keys to all the locks — which the family bestowed on him with their trust. He entered the house at 7 pm, with Deepanshu welcoming him in and then going back to his room, a police officer said.

“Abhishek then moved around the house and found a bat. He then entered Deepanshu’s room. The boy had his earphones on and was playing video games on his laptop. Standing behind him, Abhishek smashed Deepanshu’s head,” the officer said.

He then moved to part two of his murderous playbook. He set fire to the bedsheet and the curtains, and then quickly ran to the kitchen — across the hall — to turn on the gas, police said.

Abhishek expected the gas would eventually spread to the bedroom, fanning the blaze and engulfing the entire house.

His plan, though, went awry.

“The hall was so big that the gas couldn’t spread in time to spark a massive fire. By the time it did spread, the fire died down,” a police officer said.

During questioning, Abhishek told the police that he threw the murder weapon on a vacant plot opposite the building. The weapon was recovered, and so were Abhishek’s prints, tying him neatly to the murder.

The Bhardwaj family was shell-shocked by the accusations. They continued to visit Abhishek during the court proceedings for a while. They still thought he was being framed, a police officer said.

Slowly, reality set in for the Bhardwaj family.

Police said Amita married someone else. Abhishek has remained behind bars in Mandoli jail since 2016.