MBA student’s murder: Accused sent on police remand

Indore: Piyush Dhanotiyah, a 25-year-old MBA student arrested in a case of murder of his girlfriend after a dispute was produced before the court on Sunday and taken on police remand for three days.The accused was taken to the rented accommodation in Dwarkapuri area, where the reconstruction of the crime scene was done."During interrogation, Piyush said that he had fled from Indore by a train on Feb 10 after committing the murder. He then took a local train to reach Mumbai, where he kept roaming around on different trains and metros before he was arrested by police," DCP Krishna Lalchandani said. "An altercation with the girl escalated to an extent that he strangled her," said the DCP.Investigators said that the accused was traced to Andheri in Mumbai, where he was using a newly-purchased SIM card.According to police, the murder took place on the night of Feb 10. After the incident, the accused left his room around 8 pm and later sent a disturbing message from the student's phone to her sister, stating that she would not return home. Alarmed by the message, the family contacted her friends and acquaintances, but were unable to locate her.During the investigation, police found that the accused shared multiple objectionable videos involving the victim on a college group. The videos were later uploaded on the victim's WhatsApp status and also circulated to contacts saved in her phone, triggering panic among relatives and acquaintances.Neighbours later alerted police after noticing the room remained locked. When police eventually entered the room after opening the lock, the student's body was found lying on the bed on February 13.Police said they were able to trace his movement through inputs from common contacts and local sources who helped establish his recent whereabouts.Tracking technical evidence and digital footprints, the Indore police team zeroed in on his location. With assistance from Andheri police station under Mumbai Police Zone 10, he was taken into custody.