The Mumbai police have arrested two men in connection with the murder of struggling model Kritika Chaudhary, whose decomposed body was found at her rented accommodation in Andheri (West), last month.
“We have arrested the prime accused Shakeel Khan (33) and his accomplice Basu Das (40) on Monday,” said Paramjit Singh Dahiya, zonal deputy commissioner of police (DCP). The prime accused is a drug dealer and was known to Chaudhary, who is a drug addict. Chaudhary and Khan were known to each other for the last 1.5 years.
“She had purchased drugs from one dealer Sunny, who was arrested by the Ghatkopar unit of the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) in February 2016 and is now in jail. Khan is the local drug supplier who worked for Sunny. Chaudhary and had purchased drugs worth Rs 6,000 from Khan and she had not given him the money. We got to know that she was not willing to pay Khan for the drugs she consumed,” said another officer.
Last month, Khan and his accomplice visited Chaudhary’s flat at Four Bungalows in Andheri (west). “The altercation between Khan and Chaudhary in which he knocked Chaudhary down with a knuckle duster,” said the officer. After killing Chaudhary, Khan and Dass fled from the spot. The murder case was registered at Amboli police station and various teams were formed to nail the killer.
The Mumbai police used the traditional method to solve the murder case. The investigators checked all the contacts saved in her mobile number and more than 1,000 people were quizzed, according to DCP Dahiya. On Monday, Khan was nabbed from Nalasopara whereas Das was arrested from Govandi. The duo was later produced in the court that has sent them in police remand for seven days.
Dahiya said that the investigators are probing the case through all the angles including robbery bid. “Some jewellery was also missing from her residence, so we have ruled out the robbery angle and charges for the same will be lodged after further investigation,” said an officer. Chaudhary, who hails from Haridwar in Uttarakhand, had appeared in a small role in the Kangana Ranaut-starer film ‘Rajjo’, which released in 2013. She had also worked in some TV serials.
