With the arrest of Mona Duggal -- the estranged wife of the nephew of businessman Bajrang Lal Bokadia -- who along with his three employees was found murdered at his Vivek Vihar residence two days ago, the Delhi Police Crime Branch claimed to have cracked the murder case. Three other accused in the case are still absconding, said the police.
It is alleged that 25-year-old Mona, along with her brother, uncle and an acquaintance, had planned to make quick money by robbing Mr. Bokadia on August 18 and murdered him and the other eyewitnesses for the fear of being caught.
According to Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav, Mona has so far confessed that she married Mr. Bokadia’s nephew Ajay last year. Soon after the marriage differences had cropped up between the two and their relationship had reached a point from where a patch-up was virtually impossible and recently the two started living separately. Mona, however, needed money and as she was well aware that Mr. Bokadia was rich, decided to rob him.
“A day before the incident, Mona, her brother Harjeet, their uncle Rajeev and Harjeet’s friend Sanjay visited the house on the pretext that Mr. Bokadia, being an elderly relative of Mona’s husband, help the couple sort out the issues between them. On that day they conducted a reconnaissance of the place where they went again on Sunday afternoon. During the reconnaissance they had found the master bedroom locked and therefore carried a drilling machine the following day,” said Mr. Yadav.
He added that on Sunday, the four accused met Mr. Bokadia’s domestic help Bhola Singh. Mona’s associates overpowered him, taped his mouth and tied him up.
“They then ransacked the house and took cash and jewellery from four of the five cupboards in the master bedroom of the deceased. The cupboard which could not be opened had 16 kg of silver and Rs.7-8 lakh in cash. When Mr. Bokadia came home, Mona opened the door and let him in. A few minutes later his driver also came. Her three associates overpowered them one by one, taped their mouths and tied them instantly. While they were on the job, another servant entered the house but he was also overpowered and tied by the culprits and his mouth was also taped,” said Mr. Yadav.
Mona purportedly disclosed that after committing the crime, she along with her associates murdered all the four persons by strangulating Mr. Bokadia and slitting the throats of the others and left the scene along with the booty. The police are still trying to ascertain how much cash and valuables were taken away by the culprits.
“During investigation, it came out that a woman was also involved in this brutal incident. Therefore, more emphasis was laid on checking women who had worked in the house in the past or used to visit it. A sketch was also prepared with the help of a person who had visited the house on the day of the crime to collect car keys and we zeroed in on Mona. She broke down and confessed to her involvement and was arrested,” said Mr. Yadav. Raids are being conducted by the teams of Crime Branch across several States such as Haryana, Punjab, Himachal to arrest the other accused.
