Lovers fought in car on night of murder
Drunken Tilakraj Rajput drove to Santacruz and argued for over an hour with his lover Ronita hours before his body was discovered
MUMBAI: Tilakraj Rajput, the businessman who was found dead in his Mercedes at Santucruz on Monday, fought with his alleged lover Ronita over the phone and in person shortly before he was murdered on Sunday night, said a source in the Santacruz police.
The source said Rajput met a friend in Bandra on Sunday afternoon and the two drank till around 4.30 pm. Later, Rajput called Ronita and the two got into a heated argument over the phone before deciding to meet. Rajput, still drunk, drove to the LIC office in Santacruz to meet Ronita and the two argued in his car for over an hour, said the source. According to the police, Ronita became enraged during the argument and strangled Rajput with her dupatta. The police are trying to determine what exactly led her to kill him. They are checking whether she recently quit her job at a hotel because of him.
An officer from the Santacruz police, who did not wish to be named, said, “Ronita got married last year and wanted to end her six-year affair with Rajput. He, however, was not willing to part ways and told Ronita that they would continue to see each other.”
Ronita was produced before the Bandra metropolitan court on Monday afternoon. The public prosecutor told magistrate Vishwas Mane that she had confessed to a police officer that she killed Rajput.
The magistrate asked the woman if she had a lawyer. When she said she did not, the court told her the state would provide her with an attorney. The prosecution said that valuables are missing from Rajputs car and that the police need custody of Ronita to retrieve them. The court remanded Ronita in police custody until September 3.
Rajput’s body was handed over to his family after an autopsy at Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle.