The Hindu : New Delhi News : Man arrested in Paharganj murder case

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Man arrested in Paharganj murder case

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: One person has been arrested by the Central Delhi police in connection with the mysterious murder of a young woman whose body was found in a Paharganj hotel room in Central Delhi on June 16.

According to the police, accused Pramod Kumar, a resident of Etah in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested on Monday at the Anand Vihar inter-State bus terminus in East Delhi following a tip-off.

During interrogation, Pramod allegedly confessed to having killed the woman, who was his live-in partner, as he was fed up with constant quarrels with her over financial matters.

The murder came to light around noon that day when the cleaner of Hotel Maharaja Castle entered the room and found the body of the woman on the bed. Pramod had checked in along with the woman, later identified as Reshma, and her six-month-old daughter a day earlier. He had furnished the wrong address and given the name of the woman as Neha.

During investigations, the police recovered a yellow-coloured petrol pump receipt which had been used to wrap chapattis. The receipt belonged to Shaheed Bijender filling station at Rewari in Haryana.

A police team sent there found that the receipt had been printed at one Usha Printing Press in Rewari. The police reached the printing press where inquiries revealed that Pramod was an employee there and had taken leave on June 15.

Pramod's house was also traced and neighbours identified the photograph of the deceased that of his wife.

Further interrogation revealed that Pramod had met Reshma about two years ago at Ferozepur in Punjab. Reshma was married to one Ram Niwas Sharma who earned his livelihood by selling "golgappas" in Ferozepur.

The two developed an intimate relationship and on March 8, 2004, Pramod eloped with Reshma.

The two came to Rewari and began living together. Pramod had got a job in the printing press for a salary of Rs. 4,000. About six months ago, Reshma, who had assumed the name of Neha, delivered a baby girl.

But later things turned sour between them and frequent quarrels broke out. Finally, Pramod decided to eliminate Reshma.

Pramod brought Reshma to the hotel on some pretext and strangulated her with her dupatta early in the morning. He then escaped with her daughter. Further investigations in the case are on.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi