As for the modus operandi, police said that the murderer hit Gupta on the head with a wooden chair to knock him down, unconscious.
Event coordinator Satish Gupta, 40, was murdered on Monday morning, said doctors, but police have found that the “murderer” used his cellphone on Sunday to ring up Gupta’s New Delhi office.
An office attendant who answered the call was told by an anonymous voice, “I have eliminated your boss. You can come over to Kamal theatre on Safdarjung Road if you want to meet the same fate.”
Gupta’s body was found lying in a pool of blood and oil at his residence in Vignaharta housing society, Andheri (west), around 7 pm Monday.
Ajendra Thakur, senior inspector of DN Nagar police station, told DNA, “Doctors were of opinion that the murder was committed eight to 10 hours earlier, as rigor mortise had not set in completely when the body was found.
Most surprisingly, our investigations have revealed that the killer used the victim’s cellphone on January 13 to call up his Delhi office and convey the news of murder.”
The cellphone has gone missing. Cops were desperate to trace it as they felt that it would be key to cracking the murder mystery.
As for the modus operandi, police said that the murderer hit Gupta on the head with a wooden chair to knock him down, unconscious.
Then, he heated a pot of oil and poured it over the victim’s head and chest, scalding him completely. “A bottle of beer was also found in the house,” said a cop. What puzzled police the most was why the murderer would alert Gupta’s Delhi office before killing him on Monday.
Gupta, according to sources, used to supply women dancers for stage shows and other events. He was allegedly a womaniser and had multiple affairs. Cops would be probing all those as they believed that there could be a love angle to the murder.
Neighbours told police that Gupta came to the building two years ago. All this while, they had seen various women sharing the sixth-floor, one-room-kitchen apartment (No.608) with Gupta.
However, they were clueless about the murder. The building, developed under a slum redevelopment project, has no security guard, and hence no visitor’s logbook.
Gupta came to Mumbai 15 years ago. Before turning into an event organiser, he ran a cellphone store in Lokhandwala. Earlier, he lived in Dheeraj Enclave, Goregaon, where a burglary took place.
Cops promptly tracked down and arrested the thieves that time. This time they are hoping there would be a quick break once again, and the murderer would be caught.
a_renni@dnaindia.net
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