Gurgaon: Police suspect that a robbery was staged to mislead investigators after 35-year-old Neetu was found murdered at her house in Daulah village in Sohna on Friday. CCTV footage shows three men arriving on a motorcycle, two of whom spent around an hour inside the house, but police are yet to identify them.The footage and the statement of Neetu’s husband, Prashant, a teacher at a private school, have emerged as key leads. Police suspect the assailants carried out reconnaissance and knew when Neetu would be alone at home. Investigators are examining whether they also knew the family’s daily routine, including when Prashant left for school with the children and when the children went out.According to the preliminary investigation, the three men reached the house after 10am. Two entered while the third left the spot. “The duo allegedly assaulted Neetu, tied her hands, wrapped packing tape tightly around her mouth and locked her inside a bathroom,” an officer said. Police suspect the third man was called back after the crime and returned with the motorcycle, and all three then fled.Police sources said the two men ransacked the house, breaking cupboard lockers and scattering clothes and other belongings to make it look like a robbery. However, Neetu’s gold mangalsutra, bangles and other jewellery on her body were intact, and other expensive articles were also found in the house, the officer added. There were no signs of forced entry on the main door, latch or windows.Prashant had left home with the children that morning. When they returned around 2pm, he found household belongings scattered across the house. Suspecting something was wrong, he searched the premises and found Neetu in the bathroom. With the help of neighbours, he rushed her to a private hospital in Sohna, where doctors declared her dead. Prashant told police the belongings appeared to have been deliberately scattered and that the accused seemed to be outsiders who had entered the house intending to kill his wife.A police team led by Sohna ACP Mukesh Kumar and the SHO of Sohna Sadar police station inspected the scene, and a forensic science laboratory team collected evidence.“Four Crime Branch teams and two teams from Sohna police station had been deployed to crack the case,” the ACP said.Teams have been sent to different locations to trace the suspects, including one towards the Delhi-Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway. Police are also reconstructing the sequence of events between Prashant leaving home in the morning and the discovery of the body, and examining CCTV footage from the surrounding areas.On Saturday, residents of Daulah blocked the busy Sohna-Gurgaon road for an hour from around 10.30am, demanding the arrest of the killers. Women protesters lay in the middle of the road, raising slogans against the police and administration and accusing officers of failing to make any arrest even 24 hours after the murder. Family members and villagers also refused to allow the postmortem until police assured them that the suspects were being identified and would be arrested at the earliest. The road was cleared around 11.30am after senior officers intervened.The postmortem was conducted on Sunday by a board of three doctors. Police sources said Neetu had injuries on her face and neck. “It appears she may have been dragged on the floor and kicked in the chest. Her hands were tied, and she was strangled. She may have resisted or struggled to save herself,” an investigator said.
