Gurugram, Jan 4 (IANS): Abhijeet Singh, the man accused of murdering Divya Pahuja, a former Gurugram-based model and girlfriend of slain gangster Sandeep Gadoli, has spent almost six hours with the body of the 27-year-old woman after killing her at a hotel here, the police said on Thursday.
According to the police, Abhijeet and Divya, who were in a relationship, had an altercation on January 2 following which he shot at her head with an illegal pistol in an intoxicated state.
The incident took place at City Point Hotel -- owned by Abhijeet. Divya was staying in Room Number 111 of the same hotel where she was killed by Abhijeet, following which he spent around six hours with the body in the hotel room.
During questioning, Abhijeet told the police that Divya had some of his objectionable pictures, and she was blackmailing him as well as extorting money from him.
He told Divya to delete those pictures and sought the password for her cell phone. However, she refused to do so. Eventually, both had a heated argument following which Abhijeet opened fire on her.
The Gurugram Police on Thursday got a five-day remand for Abhijeet and his two associates -- Om Prakash and Hemraj, for their alleged involvement in the murder case.
According to the police, Om Prakash and Hemraj used to work at City Point Hotel.
"After an altercation between Abhijeet and Divya over some objectionable pictures, Abhijeet shot at Divya's head. Thereafter, he, with the help of Om Prakash and Hemraj, dragged Divya's body to the boot of the BMW car. Abhijeet then drove around 1.5 km and handed over the car's keys to his associates identified as Balraj and Ravi Banga, who drove the car towards Punjab to dispose of the body," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Vijay Pratap Singh (crime), said.
It is being suspected that Diya's body has been dumped somewhere in Punjab. When the police opened the boot of the BMW car that was later recovered, her body was not found in the boot.
The police said that Divya was killed on January 2 at around 5 p.m. and at around 11 p.m., Abhijeet sought the help of Om Prakash and Hemraj to dispose of the woman's lifeless body.
However, after developing suspicion, one Anoop who was on the reception desk of the hotel informed the police around 9 p.m.
Police reached the spot but did not find anything suspicious and went back after checking Room Number 114 which was booked in Abhijeet's name, the DCP said.
"But the police visited the hotel again after 11 p.m. after getting some information from Divya's sister, Naina. The police found blood stains and other objects of Divya after searching the entire hotel and Room Number 111.
"It was seen on CCTV footage that three men including Abhijeet dragged Divya's body to the boot of BMW car and Abhijeet drove off with the car. Later, he returned to the hotel but without the car. Police then nabbed Abhijeet and his two associates in the hotel," the police officer said.
Abhijeet completed his engineering from NIT Kurukshetra in 1989. He recently ventured into the hotel business.
"We also found some criminal records of Abhijeet. One case of fighting and quarrel was registered against him at Sector 14 police station in Gurugram while another case of the Arms Act was registered against him with the Delhi Police," the DCP said.
The police officer said that Divya came in contact with Abhijeet through a jailed gangster, Binder Gujjar.
Gujjar had apparently asked Abhijeet to assist with his children's education and during that phase, Abhijeet came in contact with Divya.
Binder Gujjar is said to be the prime conspirator in the alleged "fake encounter" of gangster Sandeep Gadoli, along with the Gurugram Police, which took place in Mumbai in 2016.
Divya was the prime accused in the case. Later, she was arrested in connection with the gangster's murder and spent seven years in jail.
She was granted bail last year in June by the Bombay High Court.
Divya's family has alleged that her murder was conspired by Sandeep Gadoli's family members, along with Abhijeet.