Shalu Minocha
Police say the unlikely link between the dance floor and the murder was a phone call by 30-year-old Shalu to the killers. By the time the night was over, Vineet (63) lay dead at his home, with 26 stab wounds on his body. Police said Shalu and her husband Subrat were at Cosmozin Lounge in Tilak Nagar when the assailants allegedly attacked Vineet at his flat on Sept 5. One video shows around 20-25 people, mostly couples, dancing to Bollywood songs. Police said call records showed the woman, her husband and former domestic help Vishal Gautam spoke 330 times in the 21 days before the murder. Around 30 of these calls involved the woman and nearly 300 involved her husband. Gautam allegedly brought in Raj Kishore, 30, and the two entered the flat on Sept 5 after being identified to security personnel as medicine delivery men. However, when Vineet returned around 10.55pm and discovered them, the two allegedly attacked him. The postmortem found 26 stab wounds. Gautam and Kishore were arrested after an encounter on Sept 6, while the woman was arrested the following night and sent to judicial custody.
The duo allegedly hid in a bedroom and planned to suffocate Vineet so that his death would appear to have been caused by a heart attack. The lounge’s camera DVR had no storage, police said, but videos recorded by staff confirmed the couple’s presence there.
Gautam initially sent her good morning and good night messages without receiving a response, but she began replying around three months ago, according to investigators. Police said he was stabbed repeatedly and his throat was slit before the accused fled. Investigators suspect she remained in touch with the accused during the crime, with the killers purportedly keeping her informed through WhatsApp calls, messages and voice calls. The woman is seen wearing a dark purple gown, while her husband is dressed in a grey shirt. Police are still examining her husband’s role in the alleged conspiracy. Police suspect Shalu had been planning the murder for around three months and had gradually developed a rapport with Gautam. She allegedly complimented him on his looks, calling him smart, and asked about his relationship status and why he had not yet married. CCTV footage and call records helped investigators reconstruct the alleged conspiracy.