Body of missing Kanpur woman unearthed from DM area | Latest India News

A gym trainer has been arrested for allegedly hitting a 32-year-old woman on the neck, strangling her with a rope and burying her body in the Kanpur District Magistrate’s compound – the latest idea taken from a hit Hindi film – police said on Sunday, officials familiar with the case said.

The suspect, 37-year-old Vimal Soni, was arrested on Saturday. The crime took place four months ago when the victim Ekta Gupta went missing and her husband Rahul Gupta filed a complaint. Police said the suspect told them that the woman had an extramarital affair with him and disagreed with his engagement to another woman, although the victim’s family claims that Soni kidnapped the woman for ransom.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Shravan Kumar Singh said that Soni initially misled the police during interrogation and said that Ekta was in Kashmir looking for a job. Later, he broke down and said that he had killed her and thrown her body into the Ganges, the officer added.

“We found contradictions in his statements regarding where he disposed of the body. He finally told us about the location,” Singh said.

Soni confessed that she killed Ekta in her car, dug a grave 10 feet deep and 10 feet wide and buried her there – unnoticed. Officers said they were investigating whether the murder was premeditated, although Soni revealed he had watched a Bollywood movie Drishyam — in which the hero buries a body on the premises of the police station to avoid suspicion — at least 20 times, which helped his modus operandi.

The exhumation site of Ekta’s body is located five feet from the guard post on the campus and is separated by a wall that runs between the club and the DM’s residence. The campus houses the residences of many judicial, administrative and police officers. The body was exhumed around 2 a.m. after four hours of digging in the presence of forensic experts and Ekta’s husband, Rahul Gupta.

“We are investigating whether the murder was planned as the accused had dug a 10-foot grave to ensure quick decomposition of the body,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Harish Chander said.

According to police, Ekta left the gym in Green Park, about 100 meters from her house in the Civil Lines area, around 6.30 am on June 24 and boarded Sonia’s car in the parking lot, as seen in the CCTV footage. During the argument, Soni punched her and then she lost consciousness. He then strangled the victim and flattened her seat so that she was not visible. On June 25, police found a car outside Sonia’s sister’s house in the Juhi military camp, about 7 km from the gym. According to senior officers, a piece of cloth, a rope, a damaged SIM card and a hairpin were found in the trunk.

The police checked his phone call details and traced his phone near Sarsaiya Ghat around 7.45 am, near the DM’s residence. At 8:20 a.m., his location was ascertained near Jhari Baba Parao, after which Soni went incognito. Soni was also seen in the CCTV footage of the complex, but Ekta’s family claimed that these details were not investigated.

DCP Singh said that Soni did not use his phone at all while on the run. “He withdrew ₹2,000 from an ATM in Agra and returned to Kanpur after running out of money. His location was found to be Mall Road from where he was arrested,” Singh added.

Meanwhile, Ekta’s husband Rahul, a 35-year-old businessman, denied claims that his wife was having an extramarital affair and said the suspect spiked her protein shake to kidnap her for money.

Soni was named in the FIR lodged by her husband on June 24 in connection with the kidnapping from Kotwali police. After spending time in Gwalior, Soni first went into hiding in Amritsar. The victim’s family gathered information about the victim’s whereabouts from relatives and passed those details on to police, people familiar with the matter said.

Despite repeated requests, the police did not respond to questions about the family’s allegations.

“We kept saying he kidnapped and murdered her, but the police kept dismissing it and saying it was an affair. I wrote to everyone, from the commissioner to the prime minister’s office, but nothing happened,” Rahul told reporters after Ekta’s recovery. The victim’s family also claimed that evidence found in the car was subjected to forensic examination only later.

Police also said Soni took the body in his car to the officers’ club through a gate 10 feet from where she was buried. However, the width of the gate is 1,676 mm and the width of the car is 1,680 mm, making it unclear how the suspect managed to do this. People familiar with the matter also said that the club’s gates are also locked from the inside, which raises the question of how Soni managed to open it at 7.15 a.m. without anyone noticing.

Soni has been a personal trainer of several IPS and IAS officers for 15 years, the people said, adding that he had been dismissed from various posts earlier due to misbehavior.

ACP Chander indicated that the police were investigating whether Soni acted alone or took help in committing the crime. “We are thoroughly investigating this matter and will take into account all aspects,” he said.

On Sunday, Soni was produced before a magistrate and sent to judicial custody. “The police will ensure that the accused is tried in a summary manner,” the DCP added.