Girl's elder brother & cousin on the run

NEW DELHI: The capital witnessed yet another honour killing in Ashok Vihar, north Delhi. Kuldeep Singh, 26, an executive with IT giant HCL, was killed inside his Esteem car just 100 metres from his house. Inside the house, his 24-year-old wife Monica had been shot dead in the bedroom.
Kuldeep was a Rajput while Monica was a Gujjar. The couple had returned to Ashok Vihar just four months ago after Monica’s family urged them to forget the past and come back to the locality.Police feel the couple had walked into a trap.
‘‘We are questioning at least 10 members of the girl’s family. Monica’s brother Ankit and first cousin Manpreet are absconding. Initial investigations point towards a honour killing though all other angles are being probed. However, we will have to wait till the investigations are over to make a final judgment,’’ said Karnal Singh, joint commissioner (Northern Range).
Kuldeep’s family members alleged that the girl’s family had murdered the couple. Said Kuldeep’s brother Amit Singh, ‘‘Monica and Kuldeep grew up living close to each in Wazirpur village. They went to the same school and became friends. By the time they were in college, they had become romantically involved.’’
But their marriage faced a lot of opposition, especially from Monica’s family. ‘‘The girl had to run away from her house and we held the wedding under police protection. We sent the couple to Kuldeep’s maternal uncle who stays in Janakpuri. There was even a murder attempt on a close friend of Kuldeep who was instrumental in arranging the wedding. Though no one was apprehended, the FIR had named a few members of the girl’s family. This further created tension between the two families,’’ claimed Krishan Pal Singh, a village elder.
However about four months ago, the girl’s family allegedly contacted Monica and asked her to come back closer home. ‘‘After Monica was convinced, the couple moved to their rented accommodation in Ashok Vihar, less than a kilometre from their ancestral homes. On Sunday, it was Ankit who had called up Kuldeep and asked him to return home from Wazirpur as there was some important work,’’ claimed Amit.
The police said the IT executive was last spotted by his landlady Prakash when he had come to collect his car’s keys around 6.30pm.
‘‘Monica’s youngest brother Puneet had come to deliver food at her Ashok Vihar residence as it was her parents’ marriage anniversary. He arrived 30 minutes after Kuldeep left home. A few minutes later, he rushed down and informed the houseowner that his sister was lying in a pool of blood,’’ said Singh.
Prakash said Puneet called up his home as well Kuldeep’s family after his phone went unanswered. ‘‘The families came along with the police and found that Kuldeep too had been shot in his car. Both were taken to a private hospital where they were declared dead,’’ she said.
DCP Bundela said that the entry was friendly. ‘‘The fact that there were no signs of a scuffle and that mango shake was being prepared in the house show that the assailants were known to Monica,’’ said Bundela.
DCP (northwest) N S Bundela said they were first told about girl’s murder by the hospital. ‘‘After we reached her residence around 8.15pm, we discovered the second murder. Curiously, nobody in I-block, where the murders took place, heard any gunshot,’’ said Bundela.
Both families own huge tracts of land and property in the area and make a living by collecting rent. A Santro, belonging to Ankit’s friend, which was possibly used in the crime was found near the murder site.
dwaipayan.ghosh@timesgroup.com