In a significant breakthrough in the Divya Pahuja murder case, the Haryana police have recovered the body of the former model from a canal in Tohana. Divya was allegedly shot dead by hotel owner Abhijeet Singh in Gurugram. The accused, along with two others, reportedly dragged the body into a car and dumped it in Patiala.
The police have stated that Pahuja, aged 27, was killed because she had allegedly extorted money from the hotel owner. She had been blackmailing him with what the police describe as “obscene pictures”.
So far, the police have apprehended five individuals in connection with the murder case. They are Abhijeet Singh, Hemraj, Om Prakash, Megha Phogat, and Balraj Gill. Megha Phogat is accused of assisting in hiding the murder weapon and Pahuja’s belongings, while Balraj Gill is alleged to have disposed of the body. Another suspect, Ravi Banga, is still reported to be on the run.
On Thursday, the Gurugram police arrested Balraj Gill at the Kolkata airport. Gill had fled from Patiala after abandoning his car near the bus stand.
As per the investigation by the Gurgaon police special investigation team (SIT), Balraj and Ravi allegedly disposed of the body in exchange for Rs 10 lakh in cash from Abhijeet.
Following Balraj’s arrest, he informed Bidhannagar police that he and Ravi had discarded the body into a canal behind a police outpost between Patiala and Sunam in Punjab on January 3.
In the subsequent investigation, the police narrowed down their search to a 60km area in Patiala. After abandoning the BMW, the two individuals headed to Chandigarh and then took a train to Kolkata, parting ways at Howrah station.
In 2016, Divya was imprisoned for allegedly conspiring with Gurgaon cops in a staged encounter involving gangster Sandeep Gadoli. Abhijeet, along with two hotel employees, Hemraj (28) and Omprakash (23), were arrested on January 3. Megha, a 20-year-old delivery agent who allegedly assisted in disposing of the murder weapon and Divya’s belongings, was apprehended on January 8.
Over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Last week, TOI reported that when Gurgaon police were alerted about a body at the hotel on the evening of January 2, they checked the wrong room. Upon finding nothing suspicious, they left the premises, while the body was actually in another room on the same floor of the hotel. The family also rejected the police theory that Abhijeet killed Divya because she was threatening and extorting him with photos she possessed.
