Shekhar murder: Police await FSL report to nail suspects

New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) A Crime Branch team probing the mysterious murder of Rohit Shekhar is awaiting FSL report to establish the role of three suspects, including his wife, who were seen in a CCTV footage going to the first floor of house where the deceased stayed, an officer said on Tuesday.

Shekhar's wife Apoorva, servant Golu and driver Akhilesh are the main suspects in the case.

The Crime Branch officer said that Shekhar's murder took place possibly following some sudden provocation. "We have identified the suspects but are waiting for forensic science laboratory (FSL) report to prove it with scientific and concrete evidences."

He said: "We are investigating the case with all possible angles. It could be a sudden provocation after Shekhar saw something objectionable happening in his house, and Apoorva and Akhilesh smothered and strangulated him."

The other reason could be a verbal fight between Apoorva and Shekhar -- which they indulged in very often -- taking an ugly turn on April 16, leading to his kiiling, he added.

"As per medical reports, Shekhar was regularly taking sleeping pills. Besides, he was also drunk that night which could be the reason for his failure to resist the killers."

The third suspect is Golu, who was the first visitor to the bedroom of Shekhar and raised alarm on finding him lying dead on the bed.

"There were six persons present in the two-storey house (No-329) located in C-Block of upscale Defence Colony where Shekhar was found dead under mysterious circumstances on the first floor of his house."

The room of Apoorva is adjoining the bedroom of Shekhar, and Akhilesh also lived in another room located on the same floor.

Besides them, domestic help Golu, his wife and three children lived in servant's quarters on the second floor.

Shekhar's elder brother, Siddharth, used to stay on the ground floor and another female domestic help in the back side of the house, the officer said.

The post-mortem examination report clearly suggested that Shekhar died around 1 a.m and therefore, the needle of suspicion moves straight towards Apoorva, who would be the last person to go to the first floor.

The Crime Branch is preparing CDs of all seven CCTV footages to observe routine activities of Apporva, Akhilesh and Golu.

Apoorva is a Supreme Court lawyer and said to be eyeing this property in the upscale colony -- another possible reason leading to the killing of Shekhar, the officer added.