Next-door neighbour killed woman for money

A 65-year-old woman who was found dead in her highrise society flat in Sector 55 last week had been killed by her debt-ridden neighbour for money , police said. The accused, 31-year-old Karan alias Kittu, has been arrested.

Cops said Karan, who had earlier served a jail term in Kaithal for extortion, had confessed to killing Jaya Rani for stealing cash and valuables as he desperately needed money to clear off his dues. He was arrested on Wednesday night, produced in a local court on Thursday morning and remanded in police custody for two days.

Rani, who used to live in Flat No. 107 of The Brother's housing society with her son Kajal Kumar, daughter-in-law Monika, and their three-anda-half year-old daughter, was found murdered in her flat on September 14 when she was alone in the house.

Cops said Karan lived with his wife, parents, two brothers and other family members in Flat No. 109 on rent. His elder and younger brothers are engineers and employed with private firms in Gurgaon. Police had from the beginning suspected it to be the handiwork of a robber as Jaya Rani's apartment was ransacked and some jewellery , including her gold earrings and nose ring, were found missing, but zeroed in on next-door neighbour Karan and some others as there was no signs of any forced entry into Rani's flat.

On September 14, Karan went to her apartment on the pretext of borrowing a pair of pliers. As soon as the woman handed over the pliers to him, Karan attacked her with it. He then strangled her and fled with her jewellery , according to cops. Karan, who used to help his father Ashok Kumar at the family-owned Patanjali store in Sun City residential apartment in Sector 54, told investigators he had already mortgaged the stolen jewellery with a finance company in Kaithal.

“He had hatched the plan some days ago to clear off his dues. We have taken him on police remand and the stolen jewellery will be recovered soon,“ said Deepak Saharan, DCP (east), Gurgaon.

(TOI)