Killer arrested from prominent ‘Ashram’ in Haridwar
PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE /Dehradun
A woman killed her mother because she wanted a share of the family’s ancestral property and planned to sell it to start a new life with her lover, police said on Saturday.
The deceased, Khajani Devi was found dead inside the bathroom of her rented house in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Colony, Raiwala area of Dehradun on September 21. The police said that her son found her body after breaking open the locked door of the house. The accused woman was identified as Shilpa Thapa, while her purported companion was identified as Shiv Narayan Pandey alias Sonu.
The Dehradun superintendent of police (Rural) Jaya Baluni said that Thapa had told Pandey that her mother and brother were planning to sell the ancestral land in Ranipokhari without giving her a share. Thapa told Pandey that the now deceased was her stepmother, although she was her biological mother.
Baluni said that Thapa promised Pandey that they would sell the property after her mother’s death and start a new life together. Pandey was under financial pressure due to outstanding debts, she said.
Pandey was working in Mumbai when Thapa reportedly contacted him after learning that her mother wanted to sell another piece of land. Police said she asked Pandey to kill her mother.
Baluni said that Pandey came to Raiwala and waited until Devi was alone at home. He allegedly strangled her and locked the house from outside before fleeing. He later went to hide at Shanti Kunj Ashram in Haridwar, where police arrested him on Saturday. During questioning, Pandey confessed to killing Devi at Thapa’s request, police said.
