Army Major 'obsessed' with officer's wife, killed her for denying marriage

New Delhi: An Indian Army Major Nikhil Handa, who was arrested on Sunday from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, in connection with the murder of the wife of a fellow officer, was “obsessed” with the woman and wanted to marry her.

Handa murdered her on Saturday when he found out she was not okay with the plan, the Delhi Police said.

Wife of Major Amit Dwivedi, Shailza Dwivedi, was attacked by Nikhil Handa with a knife, then thrown out of the car and ran over, police said.

Read: Army Major's wife found dead with throat slit in Delhi's Brar Square area

Major Nikhil Handa, who is currently posted in Nagaland's Dimapur, was arrested from Meerut's Daurala district on Sunday and was brought to Delhi for further questioning.

During an argument, he attacked her with a knife, threw her out of the car and ran over her.

Shailza Dwivedi was murdered when she had gone for a physiotherapy session.

Also Read: Major arrested for killing Army officer's wife in Delhi's Brar Square

CCTV footage from outside the Army Base Hospital in the cantonment area showed Shailza Dwidevi getting into a car. Her body was found in the area half-an hour later. She was run over, but the police found that her throat had been slit earlier.

In the CCTV footage, a Honda City car was seen, "in which there was only one person" the police said.

Police said, Major Handa reached Delhi on Saturday and asked Shailza Dwivedi to meet him. During the drive, they had an argument. He was obsessive and pressured her to marry him and when she refused, "he stabbed her with a knife... he pushed her from the car and ran over her body to make it look like an accident," an officer said.

The car, the police said, contained evidence - bloodstains, more than one knife. There was a Swiss knife, which has prints all over it, the police said. He tried to clean the car with towels, but there was blood still, an officer said. "It looks like he slit her (throat) suddenly," an officer said.

Major Handa and 30-year-old Shailza Dwivedi had met in 2015 in Nagaland when her husband was posted there. They had kept in touch even when she came to Delhi along with her husband who was transferred to the capital.

They talked continuously on phone, though he was the one who called her more often, the police said. Major Dwivedi once caught them red handed during a video call.

"He confronted his wife and Nikhil and warned him to not come close to his wife and his house," said an officer of the Delhi Police during a press conference on Sunday evening.

Major Handa was arrested after Major Dwivedi revealed his suspicion to the police and subsequent investigations were made.

"We raided many places overnight for Nikhil Handa. We tracked his movement. We found out he went towards Meerut. He resisted a bit when asked to join the investigation," the police said.

The police said lately, Major Handa had been out of touch with everyone, including his family. He had even got himself admitted in a hospital "because of migraines". Further investigation in the case is underway, the police said.