NEW DELHI – Crime branch sleuths are surprised over the methodical manner in which Sumit Handa went about planning his wife’s murder. They say he wanted to execute a ” perfect murder” and had used the internet extensively to do research.
DCP (crime) Ashok Chand said their suspicion was aroused when they learnt that he had asked his younger sister, who had come from Agra to help the couple settle in Delhi, to return home with their child, citing work pressure, barely seven days before he allegedly committed the murder.
“After he had killed Niranjani, he not only cleaned up the place but also asked a labourer to replace the tiles of the bathroom, fearing that forensic evidence could be collected from the floor,” said additional DCP (crime) Sanjay Bhatia. He is alleged to have burnt his wife’s air tickets and passport to wipe out all evidence. His act was so convincing that Niranjani’s parents did not find anything amiss when he told them that their daughter had fled with another man.
The cops are still looking at his route from Rai to Delhi, trying to establish if he had any accomplice. Sumit hitched a ride from a truck and came to the Delhi border. Here, he took an autorickshaw to go to ISBT, Kashmere Gate, from where he took a bus to ISBT, Anand Vihar. Finally, from Anand Vihar, he took a bus to Pul Prahlad Pur and reached his residence around 6 am in the morning.
“To make his complaint that his wife had left him above suspicion, he continued sending emails to her, pleading with her to come back. He even kept his gmail account open at his office so that his friends and colleagues could see what he was doing. The cops said he also searched police website ZIPNET and the Haryana police website to see if the burnt remains of the body had been discovered. His laptop showed he searched “burnt dead bodies” several times to ascertain whether any burnt dead body had recently been recovered in Haryana. He had procured the trolley bag from South Africa because of its big capacity, claimed police sources.
The cops though are wondering why Sumit performed his wife’s last rites. “We are questioning him on this. This movement at the ghats ultimately helped the cops to collect more evidence against him.
