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Man killed wife, faked attack

City restaurateur had affair, wanted to frame others

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A restaurateur, who had earlier claimed that attackers shot his wife dead in front of him and their two-year-old son in north-west Delhi early on Wednesday, turned out to be the killer and has been arrested for the crime.

The police said that Pankaj Mehra faked a story that attackers threatened him, trying to pull him out of his Ritz car, but accidentally fired at Priya Mehra's face and neck.

The police said that he killed his wife because of their strained relationship. He also wanted to wriggle out of money lenders and frame them for her murder, the police said. The murder weapon is yet to be recovered.

"Pankaj gave conflicting statements which did not corroborate with the sequence of events he had mentioned. He confessed to killing his wife as he had an extra-marital affair. He also wanted to get rid of money lenders," said Rajesh Khurana, Joint Commissioner of Police (northern range)

Family members of Priya (33) said that the couple had a strained relationship. She had been living with her family for the past 10 months. It was only around one and a half months back that Pankaj (34) apologised and said that he had cut all ties with the other woman.

Then they moved opposite to Priya's parents' home in Rohini Sector-15.

His paramour who worked at a bar could also be called for questioning to ascertain if she knew about Pankaj's murder plans.

Investigating officials said that while Pankaj was giving his statements, he constantly named a number of money lenders and even cooked up a story of him being taken to Haryana's Sonepat and thrashed by them . He owes Rs 40 lakh to money lenders.

Pankaj had earlier claimed a Swift car overtook his and the occupants attacked the family. Multiple police teams working on the case could not find any such evidence, making their suspicion stronger. "Scientific and forensic evidence made us zero in on the husband. CCTV footage did not show any Swift car. A ballistic report also said that the bullet was fired from a close range," added Khurana. Pankaj had two restaurants which were shut due to financial issues. He had said that assailants fired while they tried to get him off the car.

He had staged the entire crime scene. From concocting a story, to shooting his wife, rushing her to a hospital and calling the police, he had planned the murder properly.

He had procured the gun from a friend whom the police have identified. Police officials said that they are cross-checking if he had married his paramour or was just having an affair. Police officials have not ruled out the involvement of other people in the murder.

From victim to accused

  • Pankaj Mehra first told police that attackers accidentally fired at his wife though he was their target
  • But cops called his bluff and it turned out he killed her as he was in another relationship
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