Indian Army Major Nikhil Handa, was put behind bars from Meerut in association with the murder of the wife of another Army Major officer whose deceased body, believed to be in her early 30’s was found a day earlier in the Delhi Cantonment Metro Station.
According to the media reports, the police officers investigating the case have come to a firm conclusion that the accused was ‘obsessed’ with the victim and murdered her allegedly after she snubbed his marriage proposal.
The attempt to murder was revealed on Saturday afternoon and the deceased, identified as Shailja Dwivedi who is the wife of Major Amit Dwivedi. Her throat was cut and her body reportedly run over by a car many times.
According to preliminary investigation, the cause of death looked like an accident but further inquiry gave the clear picture that she was murdered. “The initial information was that of an accident but our probe has indicated homicide,” Joint Commissioner of Police, Madhup Tiwari said.
After looking through CCTV footage from the hospital where the victim was accompanied by her husband’s Army driver, police finally spotted the accused and came to know that he was hiding in Meerut.
A team of police officers then arrested Major Nikhil Handa from an officers’ mess in Meerut Cantonment. “The accused has been brought to Delhi. He knew the victim since 2015. During an argument, he attacked her with a knife, threw her out of the car and ran over her,” Vijay Kumar, DCP West told news agency ANI.
Major Nikhil Handa was reportedly posted in Nagaland at the same time with the victim’s husband Major Amit Dwivedi, he had come to Delhi from Dimapur about a two weeks ago on the alleged reason of medical treatment. A police investigation has suggested that he may have planned the murder beforehand since police also retrieved two knives from his silver-coloured car at the time of his arrest.
As per the reports, Shailja reportedly left her home around 10 am in an army vehicle for the Base hospital in a bid to attend her physiotherapy session. But, when her driver went to pick her, he was told that she did not attend the session. The driver then immediately told her husband Major Dwivedi. He started searching for his wife in and around their residence in the Parade Ground area but was not able to find her.
Around 1 pm, a person near Brar Square took notice of woman’s body and told the police. However, the deceased body remained unknown for a few hours. Major Amit Dwivedi later found the body of his wife when he went to the Naraina police station to lodge a missing complaint.
The family has a six-year-old son. On the contrary, Major Nikhil Handa is married and has two kids. Police officers are finding ways to track the call records of Shailja in order to find any other clues. One police officer opened up that the accused and the victim may have had a secret relationship, however, the statement has not yet been proved.
