From L-R, Nisha Singhania, Nikitha Singhania and Anuragh Singhania.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru: In a significant development in the suicide case of senior tech executive Atul Subhas, Bengaluru police have arrested his estranged wife, her mother and brother.
Nikita Singhania (accused 1), her mother Nisha Singhania (accused 2) and brother Anurag Singhania (accused 3) were picked up by two different teams of the Marathahalli police on the morning of December 14.
While Nikita was arrested from Blossom Stayz PG in Sector 57 of Gurugram, Nisha and Anurag were apprehended from near Hotel Rameshwaram Inn in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Nikita works for a private firm in Delhi.
All three were later produced before a court, which has remanded them in judicial custody, said Shivakumar Gunare, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Whitefield).
The three were brought to Bengaluru after police obtained their transit remand.
The arrests came even as the suspects moved the Allahabad High Court for anticipatory bail.
Sources in the police said the suspects claimed innocence during preliminary questioning.
When a team of officers from the Marathahalli police station reached Uttar Pradesh on December 12, they learnt that Nisha and Anurag had fled from their residence in Khoa Mandi locality in Jaunpur town on December 11 midnight.
On December 13, the police team pasted a notice outside the home, seeking their appearance within three days. In the meantime, with the help of UP police, Bengaluru cops tracked down the suspects.
Police also reportedly gathered documents related to previous cases filed against Subhash by Nikita from the district court in Jaunpur.
Police will also likely take action against Sushil Singhania, Nikita's relative listed as accused 4 in the FIR.
In lengthy notes and an 81-minute video, Subhash levelled a slew of allegations, including harassment, against his wife and her family before ending his life at his Munnekolalu house, Southeast Bengaluru, on December 9.
As per his note, Subhash faced nine "false" cases, including offences related to murder, unnatural sex and dowry harassment. His wife and her family allegedly sought Rs 3 crore to settle the cases.
Give us our grandchild: Subhash’s father
Subhash’s father Pawan Kumar Modi thanked the police following the arrests and sought the custody of his four-year-old grandson.
"Their arrests have come as a huge relief for us," he told ANI in his hometown in Bihar. "Now, we want our grandson to be with us. This is our wish. For a grandfather, his grandson is greater than his son. We never held him physically, only saw him in video calls."
According to the Bengaluru police sources, the four-year-old is under the custody of Nikita’s extended family.