In a dramatic incident, a former Indian Information Service (IIS) officer murderd his wife and managed to keep hiding inside a store room for over 10 hours despite rigorous serach operation conducted by the cops along with a sniffer dog squad. It has been reported that the store room measuring less than 5 ft by 5 ft, which was at the centre of the dispute between the couple, was located in the "almost unused" second floor of the two-storey house.
As per media reports, the altercation between 62-year-old Nitin Nath Sinha and his wife Renu Sinha started over him wanting to sell the house, valued at Rs 4.5 crore, in posh Sector 30, while his wife opposed it.
About the murder
According to the officials, Sinha allegedly strangled his wife to death around 9.30 am after the heated argument. Such fights had become frequent between them. The wife suffered from cancer and had a fragile health condition while their son worked and lived in the US.
"Around 12 pm, Sinha even had a visitor at home. It was a property broker with whom Sinha was negotiating the deal for selling off his paternal house and had taken an advance of Rs 55 lakh," an officer privy to the investigation told PTI.
"The retired man had left his wife's body in the bathroom attached to a room on the ground floor and went to attend the broker. Exuding alacrity, he then took the broker to the upper floor of the house, telling him that both the floors of the house were designed in a similar fashion," the officer said.
By the time the broker left the house around 1 pm, Sinha was sure that his wife had died as there was no movement whatsoever to suggest any life remaining.
A little time went by and he started getting phone calls from his brother-in-law Ajay, whose phone calls to his sister Renu had been going unanswered since Saturday.
"Worried over the whereabouts of his sister, Ajay, who lives in Sector 45 of the city, had approached the local police around 3 pm. He then went to the house himself and later the police also reached there. The locks at the entry gate of the property and the main door were broken for entry," the police officer said.
In the meantime, Ajay and Renu's neighbours made phone calls to Nitin Sinha, who told them that he was in Delhi's Lodhi Garden area. He said he would return by evening and meet them.
Once inside the house, the police team found Renu's body in the bathroom and Ajay raised strong suspicion that Sinha could be behind this act. The brother also raised suspicion that Sinha could flee the country, according to the officer.
His car was found inside the house and Sinha's phone went switched off around 3.30 pm. Forensic experts and a dog squad reached the spot half an hour later as senior police officers supervised the investigation in the case.
The accused managed to hide for 10 hours
Despite rigorous searching, the former ADG-rank IIS officer was nowhere to be found while the analysis of CCTV footage from the neighbourhood and his phone record suggested he never left the house.
"This prompted another round of intensive search inside the house, especially on the upper floor, which is ridden with cobwebs all around it and most of the rooms locked," the officer said.
"A little before midnight, the police team started breaking down doors of the rooms. It's a big house spread over 3,000 sq ft and had around 10 rooms. Ultimately, Sinha was found hiding inside a small store room which is attached to a room," he said.
