Driver held for IIM profs murder

The sensational murder of Dr Amrata Pancholi,an assistant professor with IIM-Indore,was committed by the institutes driver she hired once in a while to drive her private car...

The sensational murder of Dr Amrata Pancholi,an assistant professor with IIM-Indore,was committed by the institutes driver she hired once in a while to drive her private car,the police claimed on Tuesday. A maid had found the 32-year-old lying in a pool of blood at her official quarters inside the vast campus on December 18.

Ending speculations over the motive of the brutal murder,the police said the unmarried professor was killed for money. Till late Monday,the police had maintained that the motive was anything but money basing their assumption on the fact that except for two mobiles no valuables were missing. On Tuesday,they said Pancholi had Rs 7 lakh in her bank account,which tempted Anil Patel,a 30-year-old driver with three kids.

There were no signs of forced entry into her staff quarters. Pancholi had been staying alone for the last one-and-a-half years while her parents lived in Udaipur.

Patel,a driver with the institute for the last four years,sneaked into her house and stabbed her repeatedly when she refused to part with her ATM card and PIN. He then waited for five hours before leaving the campus around 5.30 am.

IG Indore Sanjay Rana said the killer waited in the house as he did not want to rouse the suspicion of the guards at the main gate. Patel had planned the crime meticulously though it is unclear if he wanted to kill her,the IG said,adding that the driver knew she kept her house keys in her car. He entered the house at 7.30 pm and waited for Pancholi to return and fall asleep,the police said. When she raised an alarm and challenged him,he stabbed her till she was dead,they claimed.

The police claimed they got their first clue when they realised that Patel had not gone to the railway station to receive her parents. The police said they found that along with Dr Pancholis mobile phones,some cash,jewellery and her ATM card were also missing. Patel attempted to withdraw cash from her bank account but failed,they added.

Patel,against whom a case of vehicle theft was registered in 2003,gave the mobiles to his friend Bhavesh Soni,who sold it to a vendor who took a photocopy of his driving license for identity proof. This address led the police to the duo. The police claimed they recovered the weapon and clothes used in the crime from Patels residence.