Youth kills lover, clicks pictures; arrested by cops

A 22-year-old taxi driver murdered his lover, clicked photographs of her lifeless body, stole her valuables and then drove away in his car believing he had gotten away with the crime.

On being intercepted by the police, the accused claimed innocence, but photographs of the corpse on his mobile phone and bloodstains on his shirt revealed his “guilt,” the police said.

Ajay Hooda, a cab driver by profession, had married the woman, Pooja, around a month ago after courting her for last three years.

Around six months ago, Hooda started a relationship with Sapna, mother of a five-year-old boy. He, however, did not tell her about his long-standing relationship with Pooja.

When Sapna (23) learnt of Hooda’s marriage with Pooja, she insisted that he should get a divorce. “Sapna began insisting that the accused divorce his wife and marry her. That was unacceptable to Hooda and he decided to get rid of Sapna,” said Vijay Singh, DCP (northwest).

He visited Sapna’s home in West Delhi’s Uttam Nagar on Wednesday evening. However, their discussion turned into a heated exchange during which Hooda beat up Sapna before strangling her.

He then covered her body with a quilt, destroyed her SIM card and stole her mobile phones, jewellery items and '30,000 in cash. He then fled the crime spot in his Ford Figo.

The police received a call about the murder from her neighbours around 7 pm on Wednesday. Even as the local police investigated the case, another police team from northwest Delhi district received a tip-off that Sapna’s killer was in nearby Vikaspuri.

The informer revealed that the killer would be travelling in a Ford Figo and there would be bloodstains on his shirt.

The car was intercepted on Najafgarh Road in Vikaspuri around 8.15 pm. “When the driver was asked to lower his window, he chose to ignore the instructions and drove on. However, he was forced to come to a halt some distance ahead because of a red traffic signal,” said the DCP.

The police said it was forced to break open his car’s window to overpower him. The accused was soon identified as Hooda, a resident of Outer Delhi’s Shahbad Dairy. He kept on claiming his innocence and gave different excuses for the bloodstains on his shirt.