200 CCTV-scans, 500 raids later, "obsessed" army-major nabbed for murder
Since three years, Army Major Nikhil Rai Handa allegedly kept stalking 35-year-old Shailza Dwivedi, wife of Major Amit Dwivedi. The "obsession" resulted in a brutal murder in Delhi Saturday: he slit her throat, rammed her with his car and ran over her. In less than 20 hours, Delhi Police scanned 200 CCTV cameras and searched 500 premises in Meerut before finally nabbing him.
The two met in Dimapur, where both men were posted
Nikhil and Shailza met when her husband Amit was posted in Nagaland's Dimapur. The two would meet at official functions and social gatherings. When Amit was shifted to Delhi, Shailza too moved to Amritsar with her six-year-old son, but kept in touch with Nikhil. However, he mistook her "friendly behavior" as romance, Shailza's brother told HT. He was enraged because of her snubbing.
A brutal murder near the army cantonment
Saturday, the two met near the Army Base hospital in West Delhi, where Nikhil's son is admitted. Around 11:30am, they took off for a drive in his Honda City. But an argument broke out when they were near the Cantonment. Nikhil then took out a pocket knife and slit her throat. When he stopped the car, she got out and fell on the bonnet.
He rammed her with the car to make it "accident"-like
The following details are horrifying. As Shailza, bleeding, tried to walk away, he rammed the car into her from behind. She fell on the road. A violent Nikhil then ran over her. Her body was dragged for a few meters before he sped away.
Nikhil fled to Meerut, but was nabbed
Nikhil went back to the hospital to meet his wife and son, and then to his parents' home in Saket, where he told them about his "accident." But as soon as he saw news about the crime on television, "he fled to Meerut and spent the night in army's mess," an officer said. He was nabbed from the Meerut cantonment yesterday.
Police examining if Nikhil planned the crime in advance
Evidence suggests Nikhil planned the crime in advance. He had reached Delhi on June 4 and gotten himself admitted to the Army hospital, which Shailza used to visit for physiotherapy sessions, for "migraine problems." He then went to Amritsar, where she stayed, and spent time with her, before moving back to Delhi and getting his son admitted in the same hospital over a stomach-related disease.
Nikhil claims he killed Shailza as she was getting "over-obsessed"
Police scanned 100 cameras around the murder spot and checked his call records to ascertain Nikhil's involvement in the murder. Later, two knives were recovered from his car. However, while confessing, he said it was Shailza who was "over-obsessed" with him, and he had killed her to "get rid of her" as she was pressuring him to leave his wife. Further probe is on.
