Missing Kanpur woman’s body recovered from DM Compound | Latest News India

A gym trainer has been arrested for allegedly punching a 32-year-old woman in the neck, strangling her with a rope and burying her body in the Kanpur district magistrate’s residence – the latter an idea he picked up from a popular Hindi movie – police Officers aware of the matter said on Sunday.

The suspect, Vimal Soni (37), was arrested on Saturday. The history of the crime dates back four months when victim Ekta Gupta went missing and her husband Rahul Gupta filed a complaint. Police said the suspect said that the woman had an extramarital affair with him and did not approve of his relationship with another woman, but the victim’s family said Soni kidnapped the woman for ransom.

Deputy commissioner of police (east) Shravan Kumar Singh said Soni initially misled the police during interrogation and said that Ekta was looking for a job in Kashmir. He then broke down and killed her and threw the body into the Ganga, the officer said.

We found contradictions in his statements about where he left the body. Finally, he told us the location,” said Singh.

Soni confessed that he killed Ekta in his car, unnoticed, dug a grave 3 meters deep and 3 meters wide and buried her there. Although officers said they were investigating whether the murder was premeditated, Soni revealed that he had watched the Bollywood movie Drishyam There are at least 20 occasions where the protagonist buries a body in a police station compound to avoid suspicion – which helped him with his modus operandi.

The spot where Ekta’s body was exhumed is located five meters away from the guard post on the campus and is separated by a wall running between the club and the DM’s residence. The campus is home to the residences of many judicial, administrative and police officers. The body was exhumed around 2 am after four hours of excavation in the presence of forensic experts and Ekta’s husband Rahul Gupta.

Additional commissioner of police (law and order) Harish Chander said, “We are investigating whether the murder was premeditated as the accused dug a 10-foot grave to ensure rapid decomposition of the body.”

According to police, Ekta left Green Park gym, about 100 meters from her home in Civil Lines area, around 6.30am on June 24, as per CCTV footage, and got into Soni’s car in the parking lot. During the argument, Soni punched him and he subsequently lost consciousness. He then strangled the victim and flattened his seat to make sure he couldn’t be seen. On June 25, police found the car in front of Soni’s sister’s house in Juhi Military camp, about 7 km away from the gym. According to senior officers, a piece of cloth, a rope, a broken SIM card and a hairpin were found in the luggage.

Police looked at his call log details and traced his phone to Sarsaiya Ghat, close to the DM’s residence, around 7.45 am. He was located near Jhari Baba Parao at 8.20 am, after which Soni concealed his identity. Soni was also seen in the CCTV footage of the facility, but Ekta’s family claimed that these details were not examined.

DCP Singh said Soni did not use his phone at all while he was running away. “Withdrew ₹He took $2,000 from an ATM in Agra and returned to Kanpur after running out of money. His location was traced to Mall Road from where he was arrested, Singh said.

Meanwhile, Ekta’s 35-year-old businessman husband Rahul denied allegations that his wife was having an extra-marital affair and said that the suspect had spiked her protein shake to kidnap her for money.

Soni’s name was mentioned in the FIR lodged by her husband with the Kotwali police on June 24 for kidnapping. Soni was first holed up in Amritsar after spending some time in Gwalior. People with knowledge of the incident said the victim’s family gathered information from relatives about his whereabouts and shared those details with police.

Despite repeated applications, the police did not answer questions about the family’s allegations.

“We kept saying he kidnapped her and killed her, but the police kept deflecting the issue and said it was a romantic entanglement. I wrote to everyone, from the commissioner to the Prime Minister’s office, but nothing happened,” Rahul told reporters after Ekta’s condition improved. The victim’s family also claimed that the evidence found in the vehicle was not subsequently subjected to forensic examination.

Police also said that he took Soni’s body in his car to the officers’ club through a gate 10 feet away from where he was buried. However, since the width of the door is 1,676 mm and the car is 1,680 mm wide, it remains unclear how the suspect achieved this. Those who are aware of the issue say that the doors of the club were also locked from the inside, which brings to mind the question of how Soni opened the door at 7.15 in the morning without anyone noticing.

Sources said Soni had been a personal trainer to various IPS and IAS officers for 15 years and had been fired from different places before for his misbehavior.

ACP Chander stated that the police are investigating whether Soni acted alone or was aided in the crime. “We are investigating the incident thoroughly and all angles will be covered,” he said.

Soni was produced before the magistrate on Sunday and remanded in judicial custody. “The police will ensure that the accused is tried in the fast-track court,” the DCP added.