Whisky brand leads to killer

A man’s whisky preference led to his arrest for the murder of a 62-year-old woman and her AIDS-affected son in outer Delhi’s Vijay Vihar in mid-September, police said on Wednesday.

Accused Sanjay Kumar, 33, was allegedly confident that he had left no trace at the crime spot and continued to live at his home and visiting the victim’s family instead of absconding.

But he had left behind a bottle of Imperial Blue whisky at the crime spot.
Police had seized the bottle after the double murders and had interrogated the victim’s friends to probe if anyone known to him preferred this brand.

When Kumar emerged among victim Raju’s friend to be fond of this brand, police kept an eye on his activities and gave the probe a fixed direction.

Police said CCTV footage of the nearby areas was scanned again to ascertain his presence and it was confirmed. His phone location was also found to be near the spot of the crime on that fateful day.

He was arrested near Japanese Park in Rohini on Tuesday.
A search of his house led to the recovery of a bottle of Imperial Blue, apart from a bloodstained wooden block allegedly used in the murder.

Police said on Monday the accused had arrived at Raju’s home with a whisky bottle on September 11 and they consumed alcohol together.

Kumar then asked Raju to return Rs 32,000 and a gold chain that he had lent him earlier this year.

“Raju expressed his inability to clear the debt. In a fit of anger, Kumar fetched a knife from the kitchen and inflicted injuries on Raju’s forehead. He then throttled him,” said police.

Meanwhile, Raju’s mother, who was hard of hearing, happened to enter the drawing room where her son was being assaulted. Kumar struck her with a wooden block lying in the house and tried to suffocate her.

Finally, to ensure that both had died, he crushed their heads with an LPG cylinder.
He then ransacked the house to give an impression that the murders were a consequence for resisting a robbery, said police.

However, he forgot the whisky bottle behind.

Kumar takes up odd jobs for a living apart from working as a recovery agent.

Police said he has confessed to the murders and said he was frustrated over not getting back the loaned money and the gold chain.

Since hard times had fallen upon him, his friends were pestering him also to return money lent to him.