Mumbai: Four days after Shweta Tandel, a 28-year-old housewife from Colaba, was found murdered at home, her husband’s friend has been arrested in connection with the case on Sunday. Police said the accused, identified as Hitesh Pandey, lived in the same building as the victim.
DCP (Zone I) Manoj Kumar Sharma said Shweta was murdered by Pandey, 23, on the morning of May 10. Shweta, who hailed from Cuffe Parade, married Mahendra Tandel and moved in with him in Sundar Nagari. The Tandels shared a one-bedroom, three-storeyed residence with Mahendra’s brother Chetan and his friend Hitesh Pandey. While the couple stayed on the first floor, the brother- in -law and the accused stayed on the second floor. The ground floor had been rented out.
A day before the murder, Shweta had accompanied her husband, his brother, the accused and a few relatives to watch Baahubali 2 at Sterling cinema theatre. On the morning of the murder, Mahendra and his brother left for work. Shweta was on the first floor when Hitesh came down. Mr. Sharma said, “The accused, seeing no one present in the house, tried to misbehave with the victim. His intentions were wrong. Shweta pushed him and the accused retaliated likewise. She fell and her nose began to bleed. Pandey then picked up a fork and a kitchen knife and stabbed her in the neck multiple times before she could call for help.”
He said the accused dragged her body to the bathroom and cleaned the blood stains on the floor, returned to his room, showered and left for work as a salesman at a Puma showroom in Colaba. When the police interrogated the accused, he came up with multiple stories. “He told us that he received a call from Mahendra as he was leaving for work and saw a pair of sports shoes at Shweta’s doorstep. He knocked, but left when Shweta did not open the door,” police said.
Mr. Sharma added, “The investigation had reached a dead end since we had to identify who Pandey was referring to. However, we believed there was no one besides the three people involved in the case.” Police said all three were cooperative during the investigation. Pandey has been arrested and booked under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint).
