The Hindu : New Delhi News : Realtor held in Dwarka case

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Wednesday, Jul 20, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Realtor held in Dwarka case

Staff Reporter

Had provided the gun to Naveen Ahuja with which he shot his wife

NEW DELHI: A property dealer who had allegedly provided the country-made revolver to Naveen Ahuja, now under arrest for having shot his wife and then flinging his minor son and daughter down to their death from his seventh floor flat at Dwarka here on Monday, has been taken into custody by the South-West Delhi police.

The accused, Devender, son of a Post and Telegraph Department employee and a resident of Sarojini Nagar who was into property dealing in Gurgaon, had given the gun to Naveen about a week ago. Devender told the police that Naveen had not told him that he was planning to kill his family members and that he wanted the gun for some other purpose.

On Monday, Naveen had allegedly used the gun to shoot his wife, Meenu Ahuja, in the head before throwing his son, Manav, and daughter, Manavi, from the balcony of his flat. Naveen had also claimed that he tried to kill his mother and sister, who stayed with him, but the weapon did not fire. He then tried killing himself but "failed".

Wife still in coma

Meanwhile, Meenu continued to be in coma in hospital. The bullet was still lodged in her head and the doctors were keeping her under observation. The post-mortem on the bodies of Naveen's children was carried out and handed over to the family.

The police said Naveen refused to divulge any further details about the debt situation which, according to him, forced him to take such a step. He was produced in a city court on Tuesday where he told the magistrate that he should not be asked any questions as he did not have anything to say in his defence.

Naveen pleaded with the magistrate that he should be handed out whatever punishment was due against the crime he had committed. The court subsequently remanded him to judicial custody. He had told the police on Monday that he had killed his wife and children as he was under heavy debt, amounting to Rs. 50 lakhs and more, and was not in a position to repay it.

The police said Naveen had inherited the sweet shop -- Ahuja sweets in Satya Niketan near Dhaula Kuan -- and also the huge debt from his father. His father was involved in a chit fund business which flopped after which he came under huge debt. He was found dead off the coast of Maldives in 2001. While there was mystery surrounding his death, the police believed that he had committed suicide to escape his debtors.

As of now, the police have not come across any evidence suggesting that Naveen had killed his family with any other intention than to escape the debt trap. However, the police suspect that he had planned his crime in advance and executed it in cold blood.

Further investigations in the case are on.

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