100 people questioned in senior citizen’s murder, no arrests yet

NEWDELHI: More than 100 people, including plumbers, electricians, washermen and contractors, have been questioned in the last 30 hours in connection with the murder of 75-year-old Raj Rani Grover who was found dead with her throat slit at her home in northwest Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh on Friday afternoon.

Police, however, are yet to make any breakthrough in the murder case, which the police said was committed for robbery in the woman’s home. Raj Rani was registered with the senior citizen cell of Delhi Police.

Three persons, including an electrician and a plumber, who appeared to be the prime suspects in the case were questioned by investigators for over five hours on Saturday.

Their involvement in the crime, however, could not be established because after verification, it was found that they were not present anywhere in the locality where the woman lived.

Investigators, however, said that the three were not given a clean chit in the case.

Aslam Khan, deputy commissioner of police (northwest), said the suspect who is seen in the CCTV footage is a person not known to the family members. The suspect is seen entering Raj Rani’s house at 2.30 pm on Friday. He was then seen leaving the area at 4.20 pm. “Though the footage is not very clear, we have still been able to develop the suspect’s photograph and are in the process of identifying him. He appears to be in his mid-thirties,” said Khan.

According to Khan, ten teams have been formed to crack the case and each team has been given a specific task to perform. She said the teams have got some clues about the suspect. “We have zeroed in on three to four places in Delhi where the suspect could be hiding. Raids in these areas are on. The suspect will be identified and caught soon,” said the DCP

Raj Rani lived alone in her twostorey building. Her two sons live separately but in the same locality with their respective families. Her husband Jaswant Singh died a few years ago, police said.

The murder was discovered when Raj Rani’s grandson, Lakshya, went to visit his grandmother and found her dead on the bedroom floor. Raj Rani lived on the ground floor. The other two floors had been rented out.

DCP Khan said the main door was shut from inside when Lakshya came to the house. When Lakshya’s repeated knocks went unanswered, he went to the back door and found it open.

“Lakshya went inside and found his grandmother on the floor. Her throat had been slit. The almirah had been ransacked. Her gold bangles, other jewellery items and some cash were missing,” said Khan.

No other items in the flat were touched, which suggested the killers knew where the woman kept her valuables, police said.