Sharing alcohol glass with woman kin cost Rohit his life

Rohit Shekhar, the biological son of late veteran politician ND Tiwari, was killed by his wife, Apoorva, who got furious on seeing him sharing his alcohol glass with a female relative in his car, said police on Wednesday.

"Apoorva was arrested in the morning by a Crime Branch team. She said that they had a turbulent marriage and their relationship had gone sour soon after they got married. However, it was due to a sudden provocation that she murdered him," Additional Commissioner of Crime Branch Rajiv Ranjan said.

She was produced at the Saket court here which granted two-day police custody for interrogation, Ranjan added.

Another Crime Branch officer said: "When Apoorva video-called Shekhar on April 15, she saw him drinking with his cousin's wife Kumkum in the car while he was on his way back to Delhi after casting vote in Uttarakhand. She got furious on seeing them sharing the drinks from same glass."

On the fateful night, on April 16, when Shekhar entered his room around 12.45 a.m, the couple indulged in a fight as she raised questions over the relationship of Shekhar and Kumkum. She also warned Shekhar not to talk to Kumkum. When Shekhar ignored her warnings, she pounced on him and strangled him to death," said the officer.

Shekhar, who was in an inebriated state, could not resist his wife's attempts to smother him, and he succumbed at around 1 a.m.

Not sure about her husband's death, Apoorva kept checking his pulse to ascertain that he had indeed died. She stayed in his room till 1.30 a.m and put things back in place, he said.

"Apoorva was our prime suspect as there were contradictions in her statements from the very beginning. All scientific evidences and other concrete leads were against her but she tried to mislead the investigators that they were a happy couple.

"She also tried to mislead the investigators when asked about her fingers strangulation marks on Shekhar's neck. She said that she and Shekhar were together and had shared intimate moments that night," said the Crime Branch officer.

Residing in Defence Colony in south Delhi, Shekhar, 40, was on April 16 morning taken by his mother to Max Hospital where he was declared dead.

"The autopsy report, which came on on April 19, suggested that he was murdered due to smothering and strangulation. An advocate by profession, Apoorva got two days' time during which she destroyed all possible evidences that could play a crucial role in the probe. She washed the bedsheet and pillow cover," he added.

The case was transferred to the Crime Branch on April 19.

The investigators said that Shekhar was returning from Uttarakhand, along with her mother Ujjawla, cousin's wife Kumkum and servants on April 15.

"All the family members had dinner together, after which Shekhar went to his room on the first floor. Ujjawla later called him. He, accompanied by Apoorva, came down and had a chat with his mother. As he was heavily drunk and felt uncomfortable, he again went to his room. Ujjawla later left for her residence on Tilak Marg," he said.

"By 12 midnight, all servants and Shekhar's step brother Siddharth, who stayed on the ground floor, went to bed. It was Apoorva who entered the Shekhar's room last. Only servant Golu and driver Akhilesh were seen in the CCTV footage entering separately before Apoorva entered Shekhar's room late in the night," he added.

Crime Branch team also interrogated Golu and Akhilesh several times and later gave them clean chit.

Born out of wedlock, Shekhar fought a six-year-long paternity battle with his late father ND Tiwari, as the latter refused to accept him as his biological son.

On April 24, 2014, the Delhi High Court declared Shekhar as ND Tiwari's biological son.

While passing the order, the court took note of the report of ND Tiwari's DNA test which proved that Shekhar was indeed his son.