Woman held for Samachar apartment murder; police claim case solved

With the arrest of a 25-year-old woman, police today claimed to have solved the brutal murder of a retired government officer in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar, saying the accused stabbed the victim out of "anger" over "exploitation and blackmail" by him and his associates.

The accused, who was seen in a CCTV footage taking a television from the victim's flat, was detained by the police from Palam and arrested after she "admitted" to have murdered 64-year-old Vijaykumar PB, who retired from Central Government Health Services (CGHS) in 2011, said DCP (East) Rishi Pal.

During the interrogation the woman claimed Vijaykumar and his two associates, who were about the same age as the victim, sexually exploited her and blackmailed her into continuing physical relationship with them, said sources privy to the investigation.

The accused visited Vijaykumar at his Samachar Apartment flat on July 20 and stabbed him multiple times with a kitchen knife in "anger and frustration" over her continued exploitation.

It was her first visit to the apartment complex, where the victim had moved in March from Lodhi Colony.

The woman has claimed that two companions of Vijaykumar also exploited her, the sources said.

She claimed that she was blackmailed by the victim, who had threatened to defame her with a video clip he had shot with her, they said.

The accused, a graduate who lived at a guest house in Mukherji Nagar and was preparing for competitive exams, had come in contact with Vijaykumar in October 2014.

Vikaykumar was introduced to the accused as "Pradip" by a woman who told her that he could help her in getting a job.

In two years, the victim allegedly met the accused seven times at various places, including at Lodhi Colony, they said.

"The victim had called the accused at his flat at Samachar Apartment on July 20. She was seen in a CCTV footage coming to the apartment at 10 AM, and two hours later she was seen going out carrying an LED television she had picked up from the victim's flat," the DCP said.

The officer, however, said that the claims of the accused that she was sexually exploited and blackmailed were under investigation.

Pal said the woman picked up the television from the victim's flat to misguide investigators to treat the incident as a robbery-cum-murder case, the officer said.

The woman belonged to Basti district in UP and had come to Delhi in 2014. She had married in January this year.

Earlier, the police showed the CCTV footage to residents and the victims' kin but the woman could not be identified.

Eight teams of East district police worked on the case. Hundreds of mobile numbers were analysed, the officer added.

Further investigation is on to verify the woman's claims and identify other persons she has accused of exploiting her.