Angry suspect planned Gurugram double murder

The suspect, Abhinav Aggarwal, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly stabbing his former colleague, Vikram Singh, 35, and his wife, Jyoti Singh, 32, to death after having dinner and drinks with them.

The probe into the murders of a senior business process outsourcing (BPO) associate and his wife in Dundahera village near Udyog Vihar on Thursday has revealed that the suspect planned the murders, as he was miffed with the victims for making repeated calls to his family to settle a debt of Rs 1.5 lakh. Police said he also tried to cover up his involvement in the murders by claiming that the husband and wife had killed each other over a personal matter.

The suspect, Abhinav Aggarwal, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly stabbing his former colleague, Vikram Singh, 35, and his wife, Jyoti Singh, 32, to death after having dinner and drinks with them. He was produced in a district court on Friday and sent to police custody for three days.

Aggarwal met Vikram at a BPO in 2012 and they worked together for over 18 months. After quitting, Aggarwal took up several jobs and told Vikram that he was working in Malaysia. He offered to help Vikram move abroad and asked for ₹5 lakh. Vikram paid ₹1.5 lakh but when the move did not materialise, he asked him to return the money. Aggarwal had been avoiding him for the past few months.

Devender Singh, station house officer (SHO), Udyog Vihar police station, said that the suspect was upset that Vikram had been calling his mother and relatives and asking them about the unpaid debt. “He (suspect) took it as an attempt to defame him and hatched the plan. He purchased the murder weapon, a knife, from an ironsmith near Kapashera border earlier this week and took it in a bag to Vikram’s house,” said SHO.

Police said on Wednesday evening, Aggarwal and Vikram met near Kapashera and bought beer, soft drinks and glasses for the dinner.

A police official privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said that while he was buying glasses, Aggarwal spiked Vikram’s beer with a sedative that he was carrying. “Around 9.30pm, they reached the house and went to the roof to drink. Aggarwal only had the soft drink and gave Vikram the spiked beer. After Vikram was intoxicated and felt sleepy, both returned to his room, where his wife and seven-year-old son were asleep,” the police official said.

Police said that around 3.30am, the suspect stabbed Vikram’s wife Jyoti, reasoning that Vikram was in an alcohol-induced stupor and would not be able to get up or resist.

Devender Singh said as he attacked Jyoti, she ran out of the room to escape and raised the alarm. “The suspect caught up with her and stabbed her on the staircase. Her wails woke up her husband, their boy and neighbours downstairs. Vikram was then stabbed as he tried to fight the suspect. When the people living downstairs rushed upstairs, the suspect concocted a story to evade arrest, claiming they had killed each other,” the SHO said.

On Thursday, the police had said that as per the preliminary investigation, Vikram was the first to be stabbed.

Police said he could not escape the two main gates were locked and the only people in the complex who worked night shifts, including Vikram, had the key. The suspect killed Vikram’s wife also as she would have been a witness to his murder. He left the knife at the crime spot, which was recovered by the police.

Aggarwal, a BCom graduate, had been working as a medical representative in Dwarka until recently.

In the police complaint registered by Vikram’s younger brother, he had said that he had gone to his cousin’s house nearby for dinner and slept there. At 3.55 am, he and his cousin had heard of a commotion and went to check. “My brother was lying in a pool of blood in the hall on the second floor of the house and his wife was lying on the stairs upstairs. Both had stab wounds from a knife. Two years ago, Abhinav had taken ₹1.5 lakh to help Vikram move abroad and for his business. Vikram had been coaxing him to return the money,” he had said in the FIR.

On his statement, the police had registered a case of murder under Section 302 of the IPC at Udyog Vihar police station.