‘Heinous perversion’ led guard to kill Pallavi: cops

Pallavi,whose father Atanu Purkayastha is a joint secretary in the union agriculture ministry,was found with her throat slit in her 16th floor apartment in Himalayan Heights in Wadala (East) where she lived with her boyfriend Avik Sengupta,also a lawyer.

She had a bruise below her lip,and injuries on her chest and hands. The knife was found under a shoe rack on the third floor.

Following the murder,Sajjad scaled a wall of the building and fled,police said. He was nabbed at Mumbai Central railway station,where he was allegedly planning to catch a train to flee to his village near Uri in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir. Sajjad,police said,had provided an alias and a vague address to the security agency he was employed with. Police are contemplating action against the agency.

“Sajjad has confessed to the crime. The motive was heinous perversion. It appears that the murder was pre-planned as Sajjad had taken a knife with him when he went to the victim’s apartment,” joint commissioner of police (Crime) Himanshu Roy said.

Sajjad was supposed to have been on duty at the building’s A wing on Wednesday night,not the B wing,where Pallavi and Avik lived. He allegedly tripped power to their flat,so he could go up with an electrician when she complained.

Pallavi,officers said,returned home from work at 11 pm on Thursday. Seeing the power out,she sent a BlackBerry messenger message to Avik,who reportedly told her to call the electrician.

“It appears that Sajjad went up with the electrician. Electricity was restored and the electrician left and Sajjad too seemed to have left along with him. At 1.03 am,Pallavi sent Avik another BBM message saying the power had gone off again. The electrician came a second time,and Sajjad has confessed to having accompanied him again. The electrician disconnected all high-voltage appliances and told Pallavi to use just one ceiling fan,” Roy said.

As he was leaving the flat with the electrician,Sajjad quietly picked up a set of keys to the house,police said.

“He confessed to having entered the apartment again between 1.30 am and 1.45 am. He entered Pallavi’s bedroom while she was asleep. He has said that when he tried to force himself on her,she put up a strong resistance. There are marks on his body which suggest that Pallavi put up a brave fight,” Roy said.

Pallavi was a national level swimmer. When Avik returned home from work at 5.30 am,he tried to revive her,and called the neighbours.

There was blood on the floor of the foyer and near the elevator shaft. Police said the blood trail outside the apartment indicated Pallavi had tried to get help before bleeding to death.

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