Delhi couple murder: Daughter-in-law plotted the crime to sell property and settle down with boyfriend

PTI

New Delhi, April 11

The woman, who got her parents in-law killed by her boyfriend in northeast Delhi, has told the police that she had been thinking of eliminating them for months because of restriction they had imposed on her, but their decision to sell a property worth Rs 1.30 crore pushed her to act quickly.

Police said Monika Verma, 30, wanted to sell the property herself and use the money to settle down with her boyfriend Ashish, 29. But her parents-in-law — Radhey Shyam Verma and his wife Veena — finalised a deal on February 12 to sell a part of the property in Gokalpuri to buy a new house in Dwarka.

This decision pushed Monika to hatch a conspiracy with her boyfriend to act quickly, they said.

Monika and Ashish met at a hotel on February 20 to chalk out a plan. They decided to get a couple of new phone numbers and Ashish arranged the SIM cards. He even delivered Monika a new SIM card at her home.

"Two days before the murder, Ashish and Monika started talking on their secret phones. She called him to her place on Sunday evening. He along with his associate arrived just after dark. Monika made sure that the house was empty before she called him inside through the rear gate. She had sent her mother-in-law and her husband to the local market. Her father-in-law was at his shop and returned after 8 pm," DCP (Northeast) Joy Tirkey said.

Ashish and his friend hid on the terrace. Monika gave them soft drinks and snacks, the officer said.

"Sometime after 1:15 am, Ashish called Monika and told her he was coming downstairs and she should not come out of the room. They kept speaking on the phone throughout this period. At about 2:12 am, Ashish called her to inform he was leaving and the job (murders) had been done," he said.

DCP Tirkey said Monika's husband Ravi Rattan, 38, knew about Monika's extra-marital affair and this had built an atmosphere of stress in the family. Later, Ravi's parents - Radhey Shyam Verma and his wife Veena - also came to know about it and they would keep a watch on her, which made Monika feel "stifled", Tirkey added.

During interrogation, Monika told police that her in-laws had imposed a lot of restrictions on her because of her relationship with Ashish, a resident of Ghaziabad. Frustrated, they started planning to kill Radhey Shyam Verma, 72, his wife Veena, 68, in December but executed it at the Gokalpuri residence on Monday, police said.

Efforts are on to arrest Ashish and his friend. Ashish's location has been traced to Uttarakhand, Tirkey said.

CCTV footage have revealed that Ashish and his friend wore helmets and left on a motorcycle after committing the crime. it's been confirmed that the person riding pillion was Ashish, he said.

Monika and Ravi married in 2016 and they have a six-year-old son. However, after marriage, Monika left her job.

In August 2020, during the Covid lockdown, she came in touch with Ashish on Facebook. Their friendship soon turned into relationship and they met in February 2021 at a hotel where they spent a day, police said, they regularly met at hotels thereafter.

"Ravi found about his wife's affair after reading messages on her WhatsApp account. He took away her smartphone and gave her a feature phone. However, Ashish and Monika kept meeting each other. Often, Ashish would take Monika to his house and introduced her to his family as his girlfriend," DCP Tirkey said.

When Ashish's mother came to know Monika was married, she objected to the relationship, he said.

Ravi used to work as a guest teacher in Mustafabad but later started running a garment and cosmetic shop in Johripur. Monika completed her graduation from the Delhi University and used to work at a call centre in Noida before marriage, police said.

Verma 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.

Police said Rs 4.5 lakh and some jewellery were found missing from the house after the crime. The killers entered the house likely through an iron gate at the rear of the house, a senior police officer said.

DCP Tirkey said several teams, comprising two ACPs, eight inspectors and almost 60 personnel, have been working on the case.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.