NEW DELHI: The body of a retired central government officer was found near
Sarita Vihar on Saturday.
Investigations so far have revealed that Roop Lata, the woman, had left home to meet someone in
Vasant Kunj on Saturday and had boarded a bus from Mahipalpur. Police are investigating how she reached Sarita Vihar as she had to get off the bus at Taimoor Nagar, near New Friends Colony, a few kilometres away.
Five rings and a gold chain have been reported missing from her body. Prima facie it appears that the woman was strangled by the killers after a scuffle following which they dragged the body into the bushes beside the road.
Police sources said her family had approached the New Friends Colony police station with a missing person complaint on Saturday evening following which they identified the body from photographs shown by the police.
Lata, who lived in the government DDA flats in Taimoor Nagar, near New Friends Colony, was unmarried and stayed with her siblings. Police suspect a gang of robbers who choke their victims or offer them poisoned food before removing their belongings. CCTV camera footage from near the bus stop has been recovered to determine the route she had travelled.
Police sources also said Lata was a relative of a senior
Delhi police officer. Several teams from various police stations and the crime branch have been roped in for the investigation. Lata's family members have told the police that the murdered woman had retired as an additional commissioner from the Union textile ministry.
Lata's body was handed over to her family after an autopsy on Monday.