Police say Army major is trying to mislead interrogators

NEW DELHI : In police custody for four days, murder accused Major Nikhil Rai Handa has allegedly been lying and misleading his interrogators making it tough for the cops to collect certain pieces of evidence, police said.

The investigators have been hunting for a second knife Handa allegedly carried on the day of the crime, his clothes on which they hope to find blood stains and an umbrella belonging to the murdered woman, Shailza Dwivedi.

Police are also yet to trace one of Handa’s two mobile phones.

“He told us he disposed of his clothes and the umbrella in south Delhi’s Saket after burning them. He claimed he threw the second knife at a particular spot on Ring Road. But we have been unable to recover any of these objects. He has been giving incomplete information and has been lying. He still hopes to get away,” the officer said.

Police said that on Wednesday, Handa will be taken to the army’s guest house in Meerut where he had spent the Saturday night after committing the crime.

When Handa was arrested from Meerut on Sunday, he had refused to be led away like any other criminal.

“He had denied committing the crime and wanted us to accord him the respect worthy of an army Major. But he mellowed down when we confronted him with evidence. Now he has been behaving like a common criminal,” the interrogator said.