Poisoning bid with ‘Covid drug’ lands four in hospital

NEW DELHI: The Covid-19 pandemic gave a Delhi man who suspected his wife of having an affair with a home guard with an idea for doing away with his assumed rival -- poison packaged as coronavirus medicine. The 42-year-old man in Alipur hired two women, who posed as health workers, who on Sunday visited the home guard’s house and administered poison to him and three members of his family. All four had to be hospitalised.

NEWDELHI: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic gave a Delhi man who suspected his wife of having an affair with a home guard with an idea for doing away with his assumed rival -- poison packaged as coronavirus disease medicine.

To put his plan into action, the 42-year-old man who lives in outer Delhi’s Alipur hired two women, who posed as health workers and, on Sunday, visted the home of the 38-year old home guard (the home guards is a volunteer-based paramilitary force that assists the police) and administered the medicine to him and three members of his family.

All four took ill shortly after and had to be hospitalised.

The police said the condition of the victims is stable. Investigators used CCTV camera footage to identify the two women, who, on questioning, directed them to the mastermind, according to Gaurav Sharma, the deputy commissioner of police (outer-north district).

All three have been booked for attempt to murder and arrested.

The prime suspect runs a business in Alipur.

He suspected that his wife was having an affair with the home guard, who lives in the same area.

“He wanted revenge. So, he hired two women from another village to kill the home guard. He asked them to pose as health workers and poison him on the pretext of offering him medicine,” Sharma said.

On Sunday afternoon, the two women visited the home guard’s house and claimed to be health workets. They administered the medicine to the home guard and “his mother and their two relatives; the four began to feel unwell immediately and the two women slipped away,” he added

The four victims were rushed to Raja Harishchandra Hospital where they were treated and are now out of danger, Sharma said.

The police are yet to determine what poison was used in the crime.

This is the second known case of Covid-19 being used as a tactic to commit a crime in Delhi. On May 1, a woman strangled her husband and tried to pass off his murder as a case of death by Covid-19, the police said.

In that case, an autopsy helped bring the crime to light.