Three years after a computer centre owner was shot dead at his residence in Haryana’s Panipat, police have arrested his wife and her lover, both of whom allegedly plotted the murder and roped in a truck driver to commit the crime for Rs 10 lakh.
A fresh investigation into the murder case has revealed murky details of an elaborate plot hatched by the woman, identified as Nidhi Bharara, and her lover Sumit, who was her gym trainer.
In December 2021, Vinod Bharara was shot dead by a truck driver, identified as Dev Sunar. He was involved in an accident that had left Vinod severely injured. Back then, the police said Sunar shot Vinod because he refused an out-of-court settlement in the accident case.
The case was put in cold storage, but this was just another layer in the plot cooked up much before the accident took place.
According to police, a senior official received a WhatsApp message from Australia urging them to take a relook at the case as someone close was behind Vinod’s murder. District police chief Ajit Singh Shekhawat later found out that the message was sent by Vinod’s brother Pramod and a quick scan of the case files planted a seed of doubt in him.
How it all started
According to a report published by The Tribune, police in Panipat said an accident case was registered on a complaint by Vinod’s uncle Virender Bharara. He had stated that his nephew was hit by a vehicle with a Punjab registration plate on October 5, 2021. Vinod sustained severe injuries but survived and a case was registered against Sunar, who got out on bail. A few months later, Sunar allegedly shot and killed Vinod and was arrested on the spot.
A report in NDTV said Shekhawat asked Deepak Kumar from the criminal investigation agency of the Haryana police to take a fresh look at the case. The senior cop told NDTV: “When I studied the case, I wondered why anyone would kill another man just because he had refused to settle an accident case. A case of rash driving does not attract a heavy penalty and accused often get bail, but the punishment for murder is far more severe.”
During the investigation, the police established a connection between Sunar and Sumit, who was Nidhi’s lover. After police arrested the gym trainer, he confessed to being part of the murder plot and disclosed his relationship with Nidhi.
Sumit told police that Vinod had found out about his wife’s affair and confronted her. The couple had regular fights at home over the matter and Vinod even threatened Sumit to stay away from his wife, police said, adding that this is why the two lovers, whose affair began at the gym, decided to kill the husband.
Police said Sumit convinced Sunar to kill Vinod for Rs 10 lakh and promised to pay for any expenses incurred. Nidhi was also arrested and, after the police questioned her, she too accepted her involvement.
The lovers failed the first time
This is not all. The investigators also found out that the accident was the lovers’ initial plan to kill Vinod, but since he survived they had to convince Sunar to shoot him.
Sumit told the police that Sunar, who is a truck driver from Punjab, agreed to carry out the hit job. A pick-up van was arranged and Sunar rammed this vehicle into Vinod’s car. At the time, Vinod suffered heavy injuries but survived the attack.
Frustrated by their failure, they asked Sunar to finish the job. Sunar then visited Vinod at his residence, urging him to settle the accident case. When he refused, the truck driver shot him dead.
Police also found out that days after Vinod’s death, Nidhi and Sumit left for Manali. The woman sent both her children to Australia to live with their uncle.
There were other details in the case that also helped police to zero in on the lovers. They found that Nidhi was paying Sunar’s legal and household expenses from the insurance money that she received on Vinod’s death. She had also withdrawn her statement as the prime witness in her husband’s murder.
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