Staircase inspired murder: Man held near Mathura with Rs 12.75 lakh

Believing that lessons from a Hollywood crime series would help him outsmart investigators, a 53-year-old Delhi man allegedly murdered his wife over a property dispute and fled with lakhs of rupees in cash, only to be tracked down through technical surveillance, police said on Monday.

The accused, Kamal Singh, was arrested near Mathura Railway Station after a multi-state manhunt by the Shahdara district police. During interrogation, he told investigators that he had been influenced by “The Staircase” and believed that hiding the murder weapon and placing another instrument of crime at the scene would help him evade the police.

The murder came to light on the night of July 30 after the couple’s son returned home and found his mother, Komal Singh (50), lying in a pool of blood in their Gagan Vihar residence in Delhi’s Shahdara.

“The woman was found lying in a pool of blood with a blood-stained pair of scissors placed in her hand to make it appear that she had stabbed herself. However, the victim’s son suspected that his father had murdered his mother,” a senior police officer said.

During the investigation, police discovered that the accused had also purchased a sword, which was later recovered and found to be the actual murder weapon. He had concealed it in his bag and attempted to dispose of it to destroy evidence.

Police said, however, that CCTV footage became the biggest clue in unravelling the case. The footage established that after the couple’s two children left the house in the morning, only the accused and the victim remained inside.

Police also found footage allegedly capturing the victim’s screams, followed by the accused leaving the house after concealing the weapon, believed to be the sword, in a bag.

“Probe revealed that Singh had withdrawn around Rs 7 lakh from his bank accounts before going into hiding. Technical surveillance tracked his movement from Delhi towards Gorakhpur, where he allegedly planned to escape to Nepal before abruptly changing course and heading towards Mathura to throw investigators off the trail,” the officer said.

He further said that he was intercepted near Mathura Railway Station, where police recovered a total of Rs 12.75 lakh in cash and a scooter allegedly used to flee after the murder.

During questioning, Singh admitted that he had planned the killing in advance because of a long-running dispute over family properties and had purchased the scissors a few days back before the planned murder.

He also confessed that he intended to dispose of the weapon after watching The Staircase, believing it would frustrate the investigation. The team, however, said scientific investigation, CCTV analysis and technical surveillance dismantled the carefully planned escape strategy,” the officer said.

Further investigation, including forensic examination and additional recoveries, is underway.