Shalu Minocha
Kanpur: In the murder of 63-year-old pharmaceutical trader Vineet Minocha, police on Monday recorded the statements of his jailed daughter-in-law Shalu and former servant Vishal Gautam, with the latter reiterating that he carried out the killing at her behest. However, Shalu (30) denied involvement and remained silent on several questions, police said. Investigators are examining Vineet’s 2022 will, which made his wife, son and daughter stakeholders in his property but did not include daughter-in-law Shalu. Police commissioner Raghubir Lal said investigators had obtained about 1,000 pages of call detail records for seven mobile numbers — two belonging to Vishal, three to Subrat and two to Shalu — covering the period from May 1 until the night of the murder. The records showed more than 300 conversations between Subrat and Vishal, the highest among the numbers examined, deepening police suspicion of Subrat.
Vishal had earlier claimed that Shalu told him to name Subrat if he was caught, police said. Police said Vishal and his aide Rajkishore escaped by scaling a wall at Ratan Orbit Apartment in Indira Nagar after the murder and then booked a taxi. Investigating officer and Kalyanpur police station in charge Keshav Tiwari questioned the two in jail after obtaining court permission. Police plan to seek custody remand for Shalu and Vishal and question them face-to-face with Subrat. Police are probing whether this could have prompted the alleged conspiracy. Investigators are analysing whom the suspects contacted before and after the murder, the duration of the calls and their relationships with those contacted.