Indore: The police on Thursday arrested a person for the murder of Ajay Shah, a retired engineer and the manager of Asaram Bapu trust, in Manoramaganj area. The accused and three others went to meet Shah on the pretext of taking a room on rent on Wednesday evening and they strangulated Shah and attacked him with a heavy object on the first floor of his house. The grandparents of one of the accused were caretakers at Shah’s plot. It is believed that the accused wanted to grab the property.
Additional Superintendent of Police Jaiveer Singh Bhadoriya said the accused Bhaiyyu alias Vivek Sonkar, Nilesh and Ashish were booked by the police on the complaint of Shah’s wife Anjali late on Wednesday. Bhaiyyu frequented Shah’s place.
On Thursday, police raided many places and managed to arrest accused Ashish Rama, 21 year resident of RNT Marg. He allegedly informed the police that he was called by Bhaiyyu to visit Shah’s place.
ASP Bhadoriya corroborated the fact that Bhaiyyu’s grandparents were caretakers at the Shah’s plot for a long time and had become a part of the family. Bhaiyyu , as a child frequented the Shah residence. He had easy access to the Shahs thanks to his grandparents, moreso because, the Shahs were childless. Shah’s wife Anjali runs a girls’ hostel on the upper floor of their house while Shah was Asaram Bapu’s trust manager in Ahmedabad but was staying with his wife in the city since the lockdown.
Police believed that Bhaiyyu wanted his share in the plot so he plotted to kill Shah. As per the plan, he told his friends and took them to Shah’s place in Manoramaganj on the pretext of showing them a room on rent. Shah and the accused went upstairs where the accused reportedly strangulated him and attacked him with a heavy object.
Shah’s wife Anjali was on the ground floor of the house and had sent maid Sheetal to find out why the deal was taking so long. When Sheetal reached the room, she was threatened by the accused. They also assaulted her and fled with her mobile. She also alleged that they confined her before fleeing. Somehow, she managed to reach ground floor and reported the matter to Anjali. Later, the police were informed.
PLOT THICKENS
Palasia police station in charge Vinod Dixit said Bhaiyyu, the prime accused had plotted to get rid of Shah as he was eyeing the prime property. A search is on for other accused. The fourth accused could not be identified till the filing of the report. Bhaiyyu had properly scripted his accomplices and they were not known to each other as a result, arrested accused Ashish is not in a position to spill the beans on other accused.
QUESTIONS UNANSWERED
A) Sheetal’s role is not clear. Too many discrepancies in her statement.
B) On Wednesday she said the accused attacked her and she fell unconscious.
C) On Thursday, she said they confined her to a room, however, she managed to reach the ground floor.
D) The role of Shah’s wife has to be probed. If the maid did not return ASAP from upstairs, why didn’t Shah’s wife raise an alarm.
E) Cops said the murder may have taken place around 4.30 pm but the police was informed around 10pm… why?
