10 months ago
22
In a shocking crime with many layers, a former model and ex-girlfriend of a gangster has been murdered by a hotel owner and his associates in Gurugram, police said. Her body, which was dragged to a BMW and dumped somewhere, is yet to be found.
The reason for the killing is unknown, but what is adding to the mystery is the fact that the victim was an accused in the alleged fake encounter of her then boyfriend -- who was Gurugram's most-wanted gangster -- in 2016. She was in prison for seven years and got bail only last year.
Officials from Gurugram's Sector 14 police station said they received a complaint from the family of 27-year-old Divya Pahuja that she had gone out with her friend Abhijeet Singh on January 1 and had gone missing. They informed the police that Singh owned Hotel City Point in Gurugram and that Pahuja's phone had been switched off for many hours.
When police reached the hotel and checked the CCTV footage, they saw a body wrapped in a sheet being dragged down a corridor. Singh has now been arrested for the former model's murder and police are now trying to find her body as well as trace his two associates.
An official said Singh had allegedly paid the two men Rs 10 lakh to put the body in his BMW and dump it somewhere it would not be found.
'Drove In Direction Of Punjab'
A police official said Pahuja had gone out with Singh on New Year's Day and they had reached his hotel, along with one of Singh's associates, around 4.15 am the next day. They were joined by at least one other man.
"After they killed Pahuja, two of Singh's associates dragged the body down the hotel corridor and put it in his BMW. They drove in the direction of Punjab and dumped the body somewhere," said the official.
Gangster Connection
Pahuja was the girlfriend of Gurugram's most-wanted gangster Sandeep Gadoli, who was killed by the Haryana police in an encounter in a Mumbai hotel in 2016. Pahuja was in the hotel room with Gadoli when he was killed.
Several police officials were later arrested when it was alleged that the encounter was fake. Pahuja and her mother were also arrested for allegedly revealing the gangster's whereabouts and facilitating the alleged fake encounter.
Pahuja was in prison for seven years and had been granted bail by the Bombay High Court in July last year.
Evidence Destruction
Assistant Commissioner of Police Mukesh Kumar said the accused had tried to destroy evidence after committing the murder. "The family members said that after her phone had been switched off for hours, they went to the hotel and demanded to see the CCTV footage, but were refused. After registering a complaint, officials from Sector 14 police station went to the hotel and saw the CCTV footage in which the body was being dragged," Mr Kumar said.
"We are looking for the body as well as the other accused in the crime. The case is being investigated from all angles," he added.
Pahuja was a resident of Baldev Nagar in Gurugram while Singh lives in Delhi's South Extension.
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