The wife of former Union Minister P Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, was allegedly smothered to death during an attempted robbery at her home in southwest Delhi’s Vasant Vihar area. The deceased, Kitty Kumaramangalam, (67) was a lawyer by profession and she was living alone after the demise of her husband, who had served as a Union Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government between 1998–2001.
Police said they suspect an attempted robbery to be the motive behind the killing and have arrested Raju, a 24-year-old washerman of the area, and his 34-year-old associate Rakesh Raj, a resident of Munirka. Rakesh is a driver by profession and is working in the Ministry of External Affairs on contract.
According to Ingit Pratap Singh, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Southwest district, a Police Control Room (PCR) call was received regarding the incident at around 11 pm on Tuesday.
“In her police statement, the house help Mithila said that Raju, who had been working in the area for the last five years and used to collect clothes from the house for pressing, arrived as usual at around 9 PM on Tuesday. She opened the door and informed the victim about the washerman’s arrival. When she went inside the room to get clothes for pressing, Raju overpowered her, dragged her to the next room and restrained her. He also tried to snatch her ring. During the process, she was also beaten up while trying to restrain him and sustained bruises on her neck, knees and face,” said the DCP.
“Meanwhile, Raju’s associates Rakesh and Suraj entered the house and smothered the victim with a pillow and she died on the spot due to suffocation. After killing her, they ransacked the house and took two-three bags containing valuables. One of the bags stuffed with clothes was handed over to Raju by his associates which was later recovered from him,” said the DCP.
“Teams were formed and the washerman was arrested from his residence. Based on his disclosure, one of his associates Rakesh Raj has also been arrested while our teams are working to nab the third accused in the case,” the DCP added.
Police said they also found open briefcases at the scene of the crime which suggests that the motive was attempted robbery.
“The house help Mithila later managed to free herself and raised an alarm. She immediately called her husband and brother-in-law Ajay and told them about the incident. They reached the spot and took Mithila to Safdarjung Hospital for first aid. Her brother-in-law then made a PCR call,” said the DCP.
“The investigation also revealed that the accused Raju and Suraj have been friends for the last eight years. However, Raju became a close friend of Rakesh during the lockdown last year and Rs 60,000 which was his allotted share was recovered from his possession,” said the DCP.
“The entry was friendly since Raju has been visiting the house for over five years now. He was aware that the victim had kept valuables including cash, jewelry and essential bank documents at home. So, he hatched the conspiracy and roped in his two associates Rakesh and Suraj to execute the robbery,” said the DCP adding that the body has been handed over to the family after post-mortem.