Partner, 5 others held for killing folk singer: Police

The live-in partner of a folk singer, who was gunned down early this week near her house in Greater Noida, was arrested along with five others for their alleged role in the sensational killing, police said on Sunday.

Folk singer Sushma Nekpuri was shot dead on October 1 night near her residence in Greater Noida by two unidentified assailants.

The police arrested the two shooters after an encounter on Sunday evening in Beta 2 area, leading to the disclosure of the entire conspiracy behind the killing, a senior officer said.

"The shooters told police that they had got the contract for killing Sushma from her live-in partner Gajendra Bhati," Gautam Buddh Nagar Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna said.

Following the shooters' disclosure Nekpuri 's live-in partner Bhati and three more of his accomplices, including his driver Amit and friends Pramod Kasana and Ajab Singh were arrested.

The two shooters nabbed earlier after the gunfight with police were identified as Mukesh and Sandeep, who had been hired by Bhati to kill Nekpuri.

Krishna said the main reason behind the singer's killing was Bhati's suspicion of her being infidel, leading to the rising bitterness between them.

Bhati had even tried to commit suicide in February 2018 but failed, he added.

"Sushma and Bhati had started having arguments every day. She allegedly wanted his property to be named after her and her child, leading to the trouble in their relationship," the SSP said.

The district police chief also announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for Beta 2 police station and Star 2 police teams for cracking the blind murder case in six days.