Suspect In Elderly Delhi Couple's Murder Arrested, Blames Daughter-In-Law

Delhi Police have arrested the main accused in the Gokalpuri double-murder case from Ghaziabad and he has disclosed that he killed the elderly couple on the insistence of their daughter-in-law, who also wanted to get rid of her husband to be the sole claimant to their property, officials said Thursday.

Ashish Bhargav, who was on the run after the killing, was arrested near his residence on Wednesday evening, three days after allegedly killing Radhey Shyam Verma, 72, and his wife Veena, 68, at their home.

Ashish, 29, was in a relationship with the elderly couple's daughter-in-law Monika, 30. And they hatched a conspiracy to kill the couple after they decided to sell their property, estimated to be worth Rs 1.30 crore, to buy a new house in Dwarka. Monika wanted to sell the property herself and use the money to settle down with Ashish, according to police.

She asked Ashish, who used to work as a bouncer in a shopping mall but was unemployed for sometime, to kill her parents-in-law and also wanted to get rid of her husband, Ravi Rattan, 38, later, police said.

During interrogation, Ashish blamed Monika for the murders. He said he was not in favour of killing the Vermas and had asked Monika to elope with him with her five-year-old child. But she wanted money to settle down and told him they can get it after killing her in-laws and selling the property, a senior police officer said.

"Monika was adamant. She started hatching a conspiracy since December and convinced Ashish to kill the couple. So, he roped in his friend Vikas also into the plan. Two days before executing the murders, they purchased two razor blades, which they used to kill the elderly couple," the officer added.

The couple was found dead with their throats slit at their residence in Gokalpuri in northeast Delhi on Monday. Monika was arrested the same day and she confessed to the crime, police said.

She told police she and Ashish got in touch on Facebook during Covid lockdown and later got into a relationship. She would meet Ashish at hotels. Her family got a wind of the relationship and they started keeping a watch on her. This made Monika feel "stifled", according to police.

Ashish and Monika met at a hotel just days before the murders to plan the crime. Ashish took the help of Vikas to commit the murders. Vikas is still absconding.

"We have sent our teams to neigbhouring states to track down Vikas. We have taken police custody of Ashish to recover the weapon used and the clothes worn by them while committing the crime," the officer said.

Monika is already in police remand.

The Gokalpuri residence was found ransacked and Rs 5 lakh cash and other valuables were missing after the murders.

Radhe Shyam Verma, Monika's father-in-law, had retired as the vice principal of a Delhi government school in Karol Bagh. The family had been living at the house for the past 38 years.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)