Nishi Agrawal found her husband Rakesh murdered in their home, with the caretaker Varun now a prime suspect
BHOPAL: In what could be a crucial piece of information amid the probe into the gruesome killing of retired IAS officer Rakesh Agrawal, his widow, Nishi, told police that she tried opening her bedroom door around 4.40 am on Wednesday, but found it locked from outside. In a crucial lead, police said the suspect was captured on a CCTV camera in Suraj Nagar around 2.15 am, appearing to be making an escape. The murder, according to the police, was likely committed sometime between 12.30 am and 2 am on Wednesday.
Nishi told the sleuths that on finding her bedroom door locked from outside, she informed Neetu, Amar’s wife who lives with him at the adjacent servants’ quarters. Neetu then informed her husband, who had a duplicate key to the house, the police said.Amar rushed in to find the main door, too, locked from outside, the sleuths said, adding that he opened it before unlocking the bedroom door. They then went to Agrawal’s room, finding him in bed, the police said, adding as Nishi tried to nudge him awake, her hand was smeared with blood. The sleuths, who swept the scene, said the LPG connecting pipes could well have been deliberately dislodged in a bid to set off a fire.
Proceeding to the kitchen to check, they found all LPG cylinder pipes disconnected. Amar quickly removed the cylinders to prevent a fire. She screamed aloud in horror, while Amar reached over to check for pulse. He didn’t find any.
The statement deepened the mystery around the killing after Amar, a cook employed by the family, told the cops that he spotted Varun, the 24×7 caretaker and now the absconding prime suspect, loitering outside the house around 1 am, adding that on being enquired, the latter said he came to check after hearing the sound of a door being opened.