The accused, identified as Neeraj Saki, had made a foolproof plan to show as if the woman had died in an accident but forensic evidence and police investigation led to his involvement in the incident, following which he was arrested. According to police, Rekha Duggal, wife of K K Duggal, used to live on the ground floor of her house in GK-II.
“Last night we received a call about fire at the second floor of the house following which fire tenders rushed to the spot and after dousing the fire the partly burnt body of the woman was recovered from the bed with a burnt dupatta around her neck,” said a police officer.
“The teams of CFSL, CBI and Delhi Fire service were called to examine the crime scene. They opined that the bed and the body were deliberately set on fire.
“At this the conduct of the servant, a resident of Madhubani in Bihar, who used to live in the same house was found to be suspicious,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) P Karunakaran.
On questioning, he admitted to killing the woman and relevant evidence was collected. The accused has been arrested and will be produced before court tomorrow. Further probe is being continued, said Karunakaran.
According to another official, the first floor of the house belonged to Duggal's daughter Sadhna, which the deceased had gifted to her.
“During interrogation, Neeraj revealed that finding Duggal alone in the house, he tried to sexually assault her. But when the old woman fainted during the scuffle, he sprinkled petrol on her when she was lying unconscious and set her on fire,” the official said.
Duggal's husband K K Duggal was Editor of the United News of India (UNI) and had died in 2005.
In order to paint the incident as death due to fire, the accused told one of the neighbours that Duggal had gone out to park for a walk but had not returned, police said.
The neighbour then called Duggal's son-in-law Manmohan, saying that her mother-in-law was missing.
Manmohan and his wife Sadhna rushed to the house where Neeraj told them that he had checked everywhere and couldn't find Duggal. Manmohan had by then informed police. Meanwhile, Sadhna thought that her mother could be on the second floor and went to check.
“As soon as she opened the house with her set of keys, thick smoke emanated from the house following which fire officials were informed. As the flames were doused and the smoke cleared Duggal's partially burnt body was recovered from the bed,” the official said.
She was rushed to the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) where she was declared brought dead.
Investigators noticed ligature marks on her neck, suggesting that she was strangled to death.
Police said that it is investigating whether robbery was also the motive behind the murder while it's waiting for the autopsy report to ascertain whether Nerraj succeeded in his bid to rape the woman.
“It is also not clear whether Duggal was throttled to death using the dupatta before being burnt. It would be clear in the autopsy report. Duggal's another daughter had visited her on Sunday for lunch and is believed to have given her mother Rs 5 lakh for her expenses, so robbing that money could also be a motive,” the official said.
Neeraj was present in the house and pretended to be calm initially. However, he broke down when he was questioned.
Neeraj and Bhuvan, a cook, were hired around eight months ago through a family friend.
