Guard held from B’luru for perfumer’s murder

SUSPECT ALLEGEDLY STOLE GHURDE’S ATM CARD AND CELL PHONE. POLICE ARE CHECKING IF HE HAD TAKEN AWAY ANY JEWELLERY

MUMBAI: An ex-security guard of the building was arrested on Sunday for the murder of perfumer Monika Ghurde (39) whose body was found, with her hands and legs tied, at her house in north Goa’s Sangolda two days ago. Goa director general of police Muktesh Chander confirmed the arrest from Bengaluru.

According to police officials, they arrested Raj Kumar Singh (22) of Bhatinda who worked as watchman in Jasmine Building, Sapna Raj Valley where Ghurde used to stay. However after complaints against him, he was removed from work around three months ago — incidentally Ghurde was one of the residents who complained against Singh.

The suspect allegedly stole Ghurde’s ATM card and cell phone. Police are checking if he had taken away any jewellery

The police recovered the card and her phone from him. Sources said after committing the crime he withdrew cash from several ATMs in Goa, Mangalore and Bengaluru. One more person is spotted in the CCTV footages but Goa police are still verifying his role in the crime. Singh has been booked for murder and robbery currently.

“He is being brought to Goa. We will then be in a position to question him and establish the crime motive. He has confessed his crime to the police team that arrested him,” Deputy Inspector General of Police Vimal Gupta said.

“A probe at the crime scene revealed her mobile phone was missing. We put it on surveillance,” Gupta said dding that keeping a track of withdrawals and her mobile phone eventually helped police.