A woman and her live-in partner were arrested from a Gurugram hotel on Wednesday for allegedly killing an elderly couple and their caretaker in Vasant Vihar on June 23.
The accused, identified as Preeti Sehrawat (42) and Manoj Bhatt (39), had been staying in the hotel near their house after committing the crime, the police said. On June 23, bodies of Vishnu Mathur, 78, his wife Shashi, 75, and their caretaker Khushboo, 22, were found in their two-bedroom flat on the first floor of Vasant Apartments.
While preparing the list of people who recently visited the elderly couple, their daughter revealed that one Preeti Sehrawat had visited them after a gap of several years, the police said.
She was the daughter of Shashi Mathur’s colleague and knew the family since childhood. She had even stayed overnight with them during her visit.
Cell phones and location
“In the meantime, Vishnu Mathur’s mobile phone that had gone missing since the murder was switched on for a few seconds and its location was traced to Gurugram. When mobile details of all suspects were cross-checked, we found Sehrawat’s mobile location at the same spot in Gurugram,” a police officer said.
The police said Sehrawat had also switched off her phone. However, they managed to trace her house in Gurugram and also the hotel where she was staying with her live-in partner.
Financial losses
Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Satish Golchha said during investigation it was revealed that the accused were going through a period of financial losses and also had unstable marriages.
Vulnerable targets
“We have recovered the ₹86,000 cash and gold ornaments that was robbed from the Vasant Vihar flat on the disclosure of the accused. They had planned the crime after suffering losses in their restaurant and paying guest business,” said Mr. Golchha.
The police said that the couple was constantly looking for a vulnerable target and had zeroed in on the elderly couple as Sehrawat knew them.
As part of the plan, Sehrawat had visited the Vasant Vihar flat on June 17 and stayed overnight with the elderly couple.
She befriended Khusboo in order to get friendly entry in future. The accused again visited the Vasant Apartments on June 21 to do a recce and also check CCTV cameras in the area.
On June 23, they reached the flat on a motorcycle. Being aware of the CCTV camera locations, they covered their faces. Sehrawat went inside the flat first and Bhatt followed her after waiting for a few minutes.
Misled investigation
“The accused first killed Khushboo and then the elderly couple. To mislead police investigation, they planted a glass of liquor, a cigarette, a condom below the caretaker’s bed, left ₹6,300 kept in a purse on the table. They stabbed the elderly couple just twice but slit Khushboo’s throat more than 35 times,” said a police officer.
They tried to frame someone who was close to Khushboo and staged the crime scene. The culprits made it appear as a crime of passion and not that of robbery. They initially succeeded in their plan as the district police arrested three suspects, including Khushboo’s boyfriend.
“They killed all of them [victims] after switching on the television in order to suppress any possible cries. They ransacked the house for more than two hours and left with the looted items for Sehrawat’s house in Sector 9, Gurugram. From there, they left for the hotel,” the officer said.
Mr. Golchha added that Sehrawat and Bhatt have been arrested under murder charges. The missing mobile phones and murder weapons is yet to be traced.
The police said that Bhatt had recently come out on bail after serving five years in jail for murdering his wife in 2010.
Sehrawat had met him at her birthday party over three years ago and they were in a live-in relationship since then. She had been married twice and has three children.
