The triple murder of an elderly couple and their nursing attendant in South-west Delhi’s Vasant Vihar that left Delhiites shocked has been cracked, police claimed. 

Preeti Sehrawat (42) and her live-in partner Manoj Bhatt (29) were arrested from a hotel in Gurugram by police on Wednesday. Frustrated with their financial losses, the duo had initially planned to rob elderly couple Vishnu Mathur (78) and Shashi Mathur (75), but ended up killing them and the attendant, Khushbu Nautiyal (24).

The bodies of the elderly couple as well as their attendant were found with their throats slit at their residence in Vasant Apartment on Sunday.

“On June 17, Preeti, a family friend of the elderly couple, visited the Mathurs and stayed with them overnight to become familiar with the entry and exit points of the house. The same night, she spoke to the daughter of the elderly couple using Khushbu’s phone,” said Satish Golchha, Special CP (Crime).

The South-west district police, which was tracking the case, had earlier ruled out robbery as a motive behind the murders and had said that the entry was friendly as the house was not ransacked. However, the Crime Branch team, which was also simultaneously working on the case, got a vital clue when they came to know from the daughter of the deceased couple that Preeti had suddenly visited them after many years.

The crime branch also came to know that Preeti was the daughter of one of the colleagues of Shashi.

Police said  Preeti used to run a restaurant in Sector 9 in Gurugram. “She had earlier got married to Nicholas in 2000 but her husband left her in 2005 and settled in Canada. She met Manoj at her birthday party about three years back and started a live-in relationship with him. Initially the duo started the business of restaurant and suffered huge losses. Then they both started a paying guest house in Sector 38, Gurugram, and again suffered loss,” said Satish.

He said Preeti and her live-in partner visited the area to conduct a final recce on June 21. The next day, around 11.30 pm, Preeti and Manoj reached Vasant Apartment on a motorcycle. Aware of the CCTV cameras, Preeti covered her face with a “dupatta” while her partner covered his face with the helmet, the officer added.

“A police team was deputed to keep track on the movements of Preeti, which revealed that on June 23, she had left her home in Gurugram along with her live-in partner Manoj and checked into a hotel at Gurugram, Sector-31. They both despite having their own home in Gurugram again shifted to another hotel on June 25,” said the Special CP, adding that their behavior and randomly changing their hotel created a suspicion.

 “The duo was detained and during search police found Manoj wearing a gold chain with locket and a diamond gold ring which was suspected to be stolen from the couple’s house. Subsequently both were subjected to interrogation and they confessed to their crime, which they had planned due to their extreme financial hardship,” said the Special CP.

“During interrogation, the duo revealed that they were constantly on the lookout for a vulnerable target and had zeroed in on the hapless septuagenarian couple. Preeti in order to execute their plan had visited Mathurs’ where she stayed overnight on 17 June and again she along with Manoj had visited the area to do recce of their escape route,” said the Special CP.

“The duo further told police that on the night of incident, both Preeti and Manoj reached Vasant Apartment flat on Baja Pulsar bike, being aware of the CCTV cameras they had covered their faces. Preeti went to Mathur’s flat while Manoj followed after waiting for a few minutes,” said the Special CP.

“Khushbu had opened the door, while the Mathur’s were in their bed room. Manoj asked Khushbu to switch on the TV to suppress any possible shriek. He then took out a bottle of cold drink in which he had already mixed alcohol. Preeti asked Khushbu to prepare tea. Thereafter, Manoj stabbed Khushbu multiple times in the dining area and then went on to kill the elderly couple. Soon thereafter, they ransacked the entire house for more than two hours before fleeing away,” said the Special CP.

“The duo after committing the crime went to Sector 9, Gurugram at the house of Preeti and from there the duo booked a hotel and checked in to it on June 23 afternoon,” said the Special CP, adding that further investigation was going on.

Police have recovered Rs 86,000 cash and jewellery, stolen from the Mathur’s house, from the possession of the accused.