Kanpur (UP) | A 30-year-old daughter-in-law of a prominent medicine trader allegedly plotted his murder for imposing restrictions on her and her husband, and hired a former domestic help to execute the killing, a top police official said on Tuesday.
Vineet Manocha, 60, was stabbed to death inside his C-104 flat at Ratan Orbit apartment in Kalyanpur police station area of Kanpur on the night of September 5, while his son Subrat, 35, and daughter-in-law Shalu were away at a party.
Commissioner of Police Raghubir Lal on Tuesday told PTI that Shalu allegedly paid former domestic help Vishal Gautam, 30, Rs 6 lakh to kill her father-in-law.
"The alleged motive was Manocha's strict control over the couple's finances and movements, besides CCTV cameras installed at the house to keep a watch on the family. Subrat was paid Rs 35,000 as salary for working in his father's business. Shalu was allegedly given only Rs 10,000-12,000 for her expenses. She was also unhappy with what she perceived as constant surveillance through the CCTV cameras," Lal said.
DCP (West) SM Qasim Abidi said that Shalu approached Gautam around 20 days before the murder and asked him to either kill Manocha or engineer his accident.
When he refused, she allegedly suggested suffocating him with a pillow while he slept so that the death would appear to be from a heart attack, he added.
Shalu allegedly also promised him a job after the murder, police said.
The alleged conspiracy involved a duplicate key to the flat. A few days earlier, Shalu had given the original key to Gautam and Rs 1,200 to get a duplicate one made. She later handed the duplicate key to Gautam and told him when the family would be away, Lal said.
She also allegedly told the apartment's security guard that a man named 'Shivam' would come carrying a 'gajra' and should be allowed inside.
On the night of September 5, Gautam and his alleged accomplice Raj Kishore, 30, entered the flat after she left with her husband and child. The two allegedly hid in Shalu's bedroom and waited for Vineet Manocha to return.
Manocha reached home around 10.55 pm. While checking and locking the rooms, he switched on the light of his son's bedroom and found the two men hiding there.
When he recognised Gautam and questioned them, the accused allegedly attacked him. Gautam allegedly stabbed Manocha repeatedly and slit his throat before the duo fled the apartment, police said.
CCTV footage and call records helped police put pieces together of the alleged conspiracy, Lal said, adding that Shalu and Gautam had spoken 27 times on the day and night of the murder.
Shalu also allegedly messaged Gautam after leaving the apartment, telling him that the house was empty.
The police arrested Gautam and Kishore following an encounter on September 6, and during interrogation, the former allegedly named Shalu as the person who had hired them to kill Manocha.
Shalu was arrested on Monday night and produced before a magistrate, and subsequently sent to jail on 14 days' judicial custody.
The role of Shalu's husband, Subrat, is also under scrutiny, Lal said.
Police are collecting evidence to determine his involvement in the alleged conspiracy, Lal said, adding that "If his involvement is established, he too will be arrested." Manocha ran Pharma Traders, a medicine firm on Birhana Road, along with his son.
The murder came to light after Subrat returned home in the early hours of Sunday and found his father's body inside the flat.
Police had initially suspected the involvement of a domestic help and another accomplice after CCTV footage showed two men entering the apartment shortly after Subrat left.
