Miss Alone
Prime VIP
A quick blank call to the control room is the only clue that Ludhiana police seem to have in the sensational double murder of Ola Cabs CEO Bhavish Aggarwal's paternal grandmother and aunt. The call was made less than an hour before the murders from the mobile phone of the family's domestic help Puja.
Senior police officials told TOI that the call was made at 12.43pm on January 29 and lasted just two seconds. The murder was committed at around 1.30pm that day. Sources said police did not make any efforts to track down the call.
Bhavish's grandmother Pushpawati Aggarwal, 84, and aunt Dr Sarita Aggarwal, 57, a gynaecologist, were brutally assaulted and killed by unknown assailants at their home in Sher-e-Punjab colony. Dr Sarita was wife of cardiologist Dr Rakesh Aggarwal, who is younger brother of Bhavish's father N K Aggarwal. The CEO had attended the funeral on Sunday. Members of the family said he was close to his grandmother.
Both women had multiple injuries on the head, throat, arms and legs. Cops had found two kitchen knives on the spot, one of which was broken. A hammer too may have been used as the autopsy report has indicated, but it was not recovered from the spot.
The Aggarwal family is upset with the police for letting Puja go without a proper interrogation. "How could they let her off without finding out why and under what circumstances did she make a call to the control room? It seems they are acting under pressure," said Dr N K Aggarwal. He met Ludhiana police commissioner Paramraj Umaranangal Umranangal and deputy commissioner of police Narindra Bhargav on Wednesday seeking a speedy probe.
The cops rounded up Puja two days after the murder on Monday and later released her, triggering a protest from her family members and the migrant community to which she belongs. The protesters alleged that Puja was badly beaten up by the police while in illegal detention. They blocked the busy Ferozepur Road, alleging that she was being victimised. They also asked all migrants most of whom work as maids in the area, to boycott work for next week in protest.
Puja was first admitted to a private hospital on Wednesday after the protests started and later shifted to the civil hospital. Police officials say they are keeping a watch on her and her family members.
It was Puja who had first found the bodies around 2.15pm on January 29 and informed the police. Initially, police suspected it to be a case of robbery and rounded up domestic helps in the area. The needle of suspicion pointed towards two drivers, who had left the job after working with the family for some time.
"It was not the maid but a relative of the deceased who had made a call to the police using her mobile phone," claimed Prem Nath, an acquaintance of Puja who was among the protesters.
Cops, on their part, are tight-lipped about the investigations. "It does not look like a case of robbery. It could be a case of old enmity but it would be too early to come to a conclusion," said an investigating official. Bhargav claimed that the case would be cracked soon. "We have got clues in the case," he said.
Senior police officials told TOI that the call was made at 12.43pm on January 29 and lasted just two seconds. The murder was committed at around 1.30pm that day. Sources said police did not make any efforts to track down the call.
Bhavish's grandmother Pushpawati Aggarwal, 84, and aunt Dr Sarita Aggarwal, 57, a gynaecologist, were brutally assaulted and killed by unknown assailants at their home in Sher-e-Punjab colony. Dr Sarita was wife of cardiologist Dr Rakesh Aggarwal, who is younger brother of Bhavish's father N K Aggarwal. The CEO had attended the funeral on Sunday. Members of the family said he was close to his grandmother.
Both women had multiple injuries on the head, throat, arms and legs. Cops had found two kitchen knives on the spot, one of which was broken. A hammer too may have been used as the autopsy report has indicated, but it was not recovered from the spot.
The Aggarwal family is upset with the police for letting Puja go without a proper interrogation. "How could they let her off without finding out why and under what circumstances did she make a call to the control room? It seems they are acting under pressure," said Dr N K Aggarwal. He met Ludhiana police commissioner Paramraj Umaranangal Umranangal and deputy commissioner of police Narindra Bhargav on Wednesday seeking a speedy probe.
The cops rounded up Puja two days after the murder on Monday and later released her, triggering a protest from her family members and the migrant community to which she belongs. The protesters alleged that Puja was badly beaten up by the police while in illegal detention. They blocked the busy Ferozepur Road, alleging that she was being victimised. They also asked all migrants most of whom work as maids in the area, to boycott work for next week in protest.
Puja was first admitted to a private hospital on Wednesday after the protests started and later shifted to the civil hospital. Police officials say they are keeping a watch on her and her family members.
It was Puja who had first found the bodies around 2.15pm on January 29 and informed the police. Initially, police suspected it to be a case of robbery and rounded up domestic helps in the area. The needle of suspicion pointed towards two drivers, who had left the job after working with the family for some time.
"It was not the maid but a relative of the deceased who had made a call to the police using her mobile phone," claimed Prem Nath, an acquaintance of Puja who was among the protesters.
Cops, on their part, are tight-lipped about the investigations. "It does not look like a case of robbery. It could be a case of old enmity but it would be too early to come to a conclusion," said an investigating official. Bhargav claimed that the case would be cracked soon. "We have got clues in the case," he said.
