NEW DELHI: A day after a 42-year-old Delhi University (DU) professor, Devosmita Paul, was found murdered in her flat in east Delhi’s Vasundhara Enclave, the Delhi Police on Friday zeroed in on four unidentified individuals in connection with the crime.
The incident was reported to the police on Thursday by the sister of the victim.
According to the police, a PCR call was received on Thursday at around 2.35 pm from a woman who informed them that her sister, Devosmita, had been murdered and that her body was lying inside a flat at the Satyam Apartment in Vasundhara Enclave.
The complainant, who identified herself as Devarati Paul (49), said the flat had remained locked from the outside since morning and that her sister was not responding to repeated phone calls. Suspecting something untoward, she had to open the lock and found her sister lying dead inside the apartment. She also told the police that the victim used to live alone in the flat.
A team of investigators carried out a thorough examination of the crime scene, collecting the relevant exhibits and forensic samples after photography and videography of the spot. A case under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was subsequently registered at the New Ashok Nagar police station. Police found injury marks on Devosmita’s head, leading them to suspect that she was struck with a heavy object. The body of the deceased has been shifted to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital for preservation and postmortem. Multiple teams have been constituted to identify and apprehend the culprit.
The investigation so far has revealed that the woman was separated from her husband and was living in the city alone, while her husband resides in Bengaluru. Since there were no signs of forced entry, police suspect that the victim may have known the accused. The investigators have, for now, ruled out robbery as a motive for the crime as there were no signs of the house being ransacked.
Sources say the murder took place between 1 pm and 6 pm on Wednesday. The deceased had last spoken to her mother around 1 pm that day. By the time her maid arrived at around 6 pm, she may have already been killed as there was no response to the knock on the door from the home help.
Upon examining the footage of CCTV cameras installed in the area, the cops found that two masked individuals had entered the professor’s apartment on the day of the incident and remained inside for approximately 30 minutes.
The CCTV footage reportedly showed a cab entering the residential complex. Two individuals, wearing masks and carrying a bag, got out of the vehicle and proceeded towards the apartment using the stairs instead of the lift. The cab driver remained waiting in the vehicle. About 30 minutes later, the two suspects were seen leaving the building and departing in the same cab. Police traced the vehicle through its registration number and have taken the cab driver into custody for questioning.
The sources stated that police reviewed CCTV footage from the society and identified 13 suspects who were not recognised by local residents. Of these, nine individuals have been identified by name and identity, while four remain unidentified. Among them, two had entered the society wearing masks—a man and a woman. Initially, around 200 people were under suspicion. But the number was later narrowed down to 13 suspects. Several cab drivers who entered the society during the suspected time of the murder are being examined and will subsequently be questioned to ascertain details related to the incident, sources said.
