Delhi Police have arrested a 39-year-old man for killing his live-in partner after a massive hunt across seven states for months, an official said on Friday.
The accused was identified as Pankaj Kumar Mehto is a native of Samastipur district in Bihar.
According to the police, on August 26, information regarding a deceased female body lying on the roof in a pool of blood was received at Nangloi police station.
The deceased was identified as 32-year-old Tamanna. The property owner told police that Tamanna, along with her two children and her live-in partner Pankaj, was residing as a tenant. Pankaj was not present at the house during the incident.
“During the investigation, more than 100 CCTV cameras were checked at various locations and analysed. Local inquiries were also conducted. It was discovered that the accused was a permanent resident of District Samastipur, Bihar, and had an in-law’s house in West Bengal,” said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer) Jimmy Chiram.
Despite conducting raids in seven states, namely West Bengal, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, and Jammu & Kashmir, at the residences of the accused’s relatives and friends, no clues were found.
“After four months of tireless efforts, Pankaj was arrested from Gokhale Market, near Tis Hazari, Old Delhi,” said the DCP.
During sustained interrogation, the accused revealed that he had been in a live-in relationship with the deceased Tamanna for the last six years.
Tamanna allegedly pressured him to leave his wife and children and engaged in continuous quarrels with him.
“In frustration, he struck her with a hard wooden object and later strangled her with a rope,” said the DCP.
He fled from the scene and hid in Bhiwani, Haryana, Calcutta, Ludhiana in Punjab, Ghaziabad, and Delhi areas.
“He lived as a vagabond, refraining from using a mobile phone. He attempted to secure anticipatory bail and sought an advocate near Tis Hazari Court,” said the DCP.
Upon his information, the weapon of the offence, the rope used by the accused, was recovered. “Accused Pankaj was produced before the court and sent to 14 days of judicial custody,” the DCP added.
(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)
