Double murder: Elder sister’s jilted lover nabbed for the crime

UNCHECKED RAGE The accused Saurabh Sharma decided to murder Aarti after he spotted her with other youths

LUCKNOW: Two daughters of a retired army personnel, who were found murdered inside their house in a crowded Para locality, had fallen prey to a hate crime. The elder sister’s jilted lover had allegedly stabbed them to death with a pair of scissors after feeling betrayed. The police claimed to work out the case on Wednesday after arrest of the jilted lover Saurabh Sharma, who stays in the girls’ neighbourhood.

Inspector General (IG) of Police, Lucknow zone A Satish Ganesh told HT that Sharma was feeling betrayed due to elder sister Aarti’s friendship with two other youths Indrajeet Tripathi and Akhilesh Kumar Yadav, who also stay near her house in Ram Vihar colony. He said the accused was very possessive regarding his relationship with Aarti and had even warned her earlier to stay away from other youths. He said Aarti had confronted Sharma over the same issue.

Ganesh said Sharma was preparing for banking examinations and had friendship with Aarti Singh since 2011. Sharma used to share his notes of banking exam preparations with Aarti and had even written papers for her when she had become ill during her B Tech part II examinations.

He said the accused developed sudden hate for Aarti and decided to murder her after he spotted her along with Indrajeet in Phoneix mall on Sunday where they had gone to watch a movie. The accused had also spotted Aarti roaming with Akhilesh on Saturday.

Sharing the sequence of events, the IG said Sharma was keeping a watch on Aarti’s family and he immediately went to her house when her parents, LB Singh and Renu Singh, left for the command hospital at around 8.10am on Tuesday. He said the accused first spoke with Aarti’s younger sister Antima when she opened the main gate as the former was in bathroom at the time.

Antima confronted Sharma when he forcibly entered into her bedroom searching for Aarti. The IG said Sharma, who was in a fit of rage, first attacked Antima with the scissors that he had brought along. The accused then attacked Aarti when she came rushing out of the bathroom after hearing the screams of her younger sister. He said the accused single handedly murdered the two sisters and silently sneaked out of the house after washing his hands in a washbasin.

HOW THE CASE WAS CRACKED?

Aarti’s mobile call details pattern revealing her frequent conversations with Indrajeet and Akhilesh led police to them. When police quizzed the duo then they came to know about her previous friendship with Saurabh Sharma. Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Deepak Kumar said a fresh injury in Sharma’s right hand immediately brought him under suspicion. He said Sharma initially misled the interrogators but gradually broke down when he was rigorously quizzed.

EVIDENCES

SSP Deepak Kumar said police have collected multiple evidences to prove Sharma guilty during a court trial. He said the most crucial evidence is the lock of hair found in the hands of Antima who had a scuffle with him when he attacked her with the scissors. Kumar said the hair would be sent for forensic examination and a report confirming Sharma’s hairs in Antima’s hand would be sufficient enough to prove his involvement in the crime.

Kumar further said the scissors used in the crime has also been recovered from his house, which will be the second crucial evidence. He said the third major evidence is Sharma’s clothes that had blood stains of the victims. He said the injury on his hand will also be mentioned as one of the evidences. He said Aarti’s two other friends statement will also be helpful in getting Sharma convicted in the case.

SKIPPING SCHOOL PROVED DEADLY

The accused Saurabh Sharma told the cops that he was expecting Aarti alone in the house as her parents had left for the hospital and Antima was to be in school. But Antima had skipped the school for the day due to her mother’s illness and was at home.

Sharma revealed during interrogation that he had planned to murder Aarti but Antima was also killed due to her presence at home. While interacting with media persons during the police press conference, the accused did not expressed any regret over killing Aarti but regretted killing her younger sister unnecessarily.

Killer was present when cops were examining crime scene

Saurabh Sharma acted normally after committing the crime and went to meet Aarti’s family at the command hospital after cleaning his wound and changing his blood stained clothes. He even remained present outside Aarti’s house when the cops were examining the crime scene. He stayed at his home the whole day as he believed his absence from crime scene may bring him under suspicion.

NEIGHBOURS’ SILENT

SSP Deepak Kumar said Saurabh Sharma’s family is considered to be most social and political influential in the locality and nobody dared to speak against them.

The SSP said the sequence of events revealed by Sharma confirmed that both sisters resisted and shouted when they were attacked and people in such a crowded locality would have surely heard their screams. Moreover, some locals also spotted him coming out of the girls’ house but nobody shared these crucial facts with the police.