Rs.50 lakh recovered from killer of legislator’s wife

LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI - A 30-year-old man was arrested in Delhi Wednesday for murdering the wife of an Uttar Pradesh legislator last week in Muzaffarnagar town and decamping with valuables. Delhi Police have recovered Rs.50 lakh from him.

The wife of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from the Nai Mandi area of Muzaffarnagar district, Hukum Singh, was strangled to death in her house in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar town Saturday.

“The accused Joshodh Chaudhary murdered Revati, 75, and decamped with cash and jewellery worth more than Rs.50 lakh,” Virender Chehel, additional commissioner of Delhi Police, told reporters in Delhi.

After a tip off, the police apprehended Chaudhary Wednesday from Badarpur area of south Delhi.

“A cash amount of Rs.50.80 lakh, six gold rings, a suitcase full of sarees and two gunny bags have been recovered from his possession,” Chehel added.

The recovery of cash from the accused has exposed the initial claims of Uttar Pradesh police that robbery was not the motive behind the crime.

In Lucknow, Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal said: “It was all because of big money.”

Lal confirmed the recovery of cash from the accused in Delhi.

“Joshodh has confessed parking another Rs.12 lakh with his friend Pradeep, who is being traced,” Lal said, adding that the robbery-cum-murder may have involved Rs.65 lakh.

Hukum Singh’s domestic help Shankar Kamat and his friend Lallan have already been arrested in connection with the murder. They were arrested Tuesday.

Police are hunting for Ravi Kamat, a former domestic help of Singh, suspected to be the mastermind behind the murder.

He was sacked by the BJP leader some time back following a theft in his house.