New Delhi, July 25 (IANS) The Delhi Police is looking for three suspects, including a "South Indian woman" in her 30s, for the murder of a 62-year-old woman and the robbery at her Lajpat Nagar flat in south Delhi on Sunday afternoon.
Investigators said they were hunting for three persons whose video footage was captured on a CCTV camera installed at the gate of a house located two houses away from the building where the woman, Vimla Rani Ahuja, lived.
Ahuja lived on the first floor with her husband while her son lived on the third floor of the same building with his wife and daughter.
Ahuja was alone in her flat when she was killed. Her husband was at his shop in Lajpat Nagar Central Market with his son at the time. She sustained a fatal wound to the back of her head, but no murder weapon was found. The victim's body was found when her son returned home from the shop and entered the flat finding the main door ajar.
Her body was found lying in the kitchen in a pool of blood and she seemed to have been hit with an iron rod from behind. The attackers also robbed jewellery and cash worth approximately Rs 10 lakh.
Police said the CCTV footage is a crucial evidence which establishes that a "South Indian woman and two of her male associates" might have executed the murder-cum-robbery.
"From the CCTV footages and the prima facie evidences, it is clear that the killers were known to the victim. We have suspicion about the employees of the shop of the woman's husband," an officer, close to the investigation, told IANS.
The officer said, "We cannot rule out the role of other people, including domestic helps, neighbours, relatives and others until the case is solved".
"As the CCTV footage is not very clear and it only covers the area near to the entry gate of the building, it is a challenging task for us to get the information about the three persons who were seen outside the gate during the time of murder," the officer said.
The officer said they have found some more clues and added the case will be solved within 24 hours.
One of the victim's relatives, on condition of anonymity, told IANS that he saw the CCTV footage which is now in police custody.
In the footage, the relative said there was a woman wearing an "yellow sari". "She looks like a South Indian and seems to be a domestic help. She was seen standing on the road close to the gate of the building where the victim lived," the relative said.
"Later, a man wearing a 'lungi' approached her. It seems that they did the recce of the house. Then a man sporting a pant and shirt reached there. He then entered the building. The same man came out after carrying a bag filled with something and disappeared in the nearby streets," the relative said.
The relative added that a similar bag is used at the shop of the women's husband for giving to customers their purchased items.
