A 62-year old woman, Sulochana Bansal, was hacked 27 times with a meat cleaver and killed by her neighbour at her West Delhi home on Monday, where she was alone with her five-year-old grandson.
On Tuesday, the police arrested the woman's neighbour ― Anurag Jain ― in connection with the murder. The police had earlier suspected Bansal's sacked domestic help to be behind the crime.
The accused had reportedly suffered from business losses and murdered Bansal with the motive of robbery. Jain had planned the murder in advance and before committing the crime, he had done an extended recce of the house.
According to Hindustan Times, the police recovered a red Pulsar bike near the house without any number plate. DCP Pushpender Kumar said the police managed to track down the owner with the help of the engine number of the bike.
"We found that the owner was Anurag Jain. When we first spoke to him, he said he had parked his motorcycle near the house because it had a flat tyre but could not explain why the number plates were removed. We arrested him," Kumar told the daily.
During the interrogation period, Jain confessed that his family was suffering from financial losses and that the Bansal family was financially well-to-do and believed that by committing the crime he would get a huge amount of money and jewellery.
In order to commit the crime, he had bought knives from Paschim Vihar and stitched a mask to hide his identity.
Kumar said that on Monday morning, Jain climbed the boundary wall of the Bansals and tampered the two CCTV cameras. However, he could not tamper the other two cameras as they were placed at a greater height.
At around 11am, Bansal's husband had left the house leaving the main door of the house open through which Jain entered the house. On noticing him, Sulochana shouted for help but Jain stabbed her after chasing her.
Jain fled the house in a hurry with cash, jewellery and the DVR that had the recordings of the CCTVs as Bansal's daughter-in-law rang the bell.
As the daughter-in-law entered the house, she found Bansal lying in a pool of blood and immediately rushed her to the Maharaja Agrasen hospital where the doctors declared Bansal dead. The police said they would study the CCTV footage that has been recovered from the accused in order to study the case in depth.