Suspect in Arpit murder case commits suicide

LUCKNOW: Abhinav Pal, suspect in the murder of aspiring fashion designer Arpit Dixit, committed suicide in a hotel in Bahraich late on Sunday night, by shooting himself from a country made gun. The body was recovered on Monday morning.

Pal, a resident of Kanpur, checked into Hotel Harsh Palace, Bahraich, at around 9am on Saturday in room number 27 on the hotel’s first floor.

According to cops, after checking in, he went out to take a round of the city and returned late in the evening.

On Sunday morning, Pal went out again and returned at around 4pm and thereafter confined himself to the room.

On Monday morning, when the housekeeping staff of the hotel was cleaning rooms, they knocked at Pal’s room. But there was no reply. When the hotel staff somehow managed to open the door, they found Pal lying dead on the bed. The hotel staff informed cops and Atal Bihari Thakur, Nagar Kotwal, and senior sub inspector Mahendra Singh Chauhan reached the spot.

During investigation it came to light that the deceased belonged to Kanpur district.

Cops pointed out that Pal had shot himself by pressing the country made gun against his neck, thereby generating minimum sound. Therefore, the hotel staff could not hear the gun shot, they added.

Cops also recovered the gun and an axe with blood stains from the room. The police suspect that Pal had used the same axe to kill Arpit.

Arpit, a native of Shahjahanpur, was found dead in Hotel Continental at Basmandi crossing, Lucknow, on Sunday. Along with Arpit his friend Pal had also checked into the same hotel room.

“Arpit was doing a course in fashion designing from an institute in Rae Bareli. He, along with Abhinav Pal, had checked into the hotel room on May 3,” said ASP (west), Vikas Chandra Tripathi

Abhinav Pal, who is a native of TP Nagar locality of Kanpur and a teacher at polytechnic college in Bahraich, had got the room booked. With Pal’s death, the Arpit murder mystery has further deepened.

COPS RECOVERED A GUN AND AN AXE WITH BLOOD STAINS FROM THE ROOM. THE POLICE SUSPECT THAT PAL HAD USED THE SAME AXE TO KILL ARPIT.