india

Updated: Apr 27, 2019 22:42 IST

A 52-year-old woman, the wife of a former Indian Air Force wing commander, was found dead at their house in the Air Force and Naval Officers Enclave in Dwarka Sector 7 on Friday morning, the police said on Saturday.

An initial probe suggests the woman, identified as Meenu Jain, was killed during a robbery because her valuables, including jewellery and cash, were found missing and the house ad been ransacked. No arrest had yet been made until Friday night..

According to the police, the murder took place between late Thursday night and the early hours of Friday, when the woman was alone in her house. Her husband, Vinod Kumar Jain, who is a pilot with a domestic airline, was at work and on a flight at the time, the police said.

The police received a call from the victim’s father and brother, who visited her on Friday morning after failing to reach her on the phone since the previous night.

“On reaching her house, the woman’s father and brother found it locked from outside. Sensing that something was wrong, they peeped in from the balcony of an adjacent house and spotted Jain lying on the floor beside her bed,” said a police officer who is investigating the murder. He requested anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

The family members then broke open the main door with the help of neighbours and called the police. “When we entered the house the house was found ransacked. There were traces of blood on the woman’s pillow. She had no external injury. We did not spot any bruises on her body as a sign of struggle with the killers. The woman was taken to a hospital where the doctors pronounced her dead and then her body was preserved for a post-mortem examination,” said the officer.

Jain’s husband was informed about the murder. Her husband told the police that most of her jewellery, some cash kept in the house and two mobile phones were missing. “We are yet to evaluate the cost of the missing valuables. Initially it looks like a robbery attempt led to the murder. Prima facie, it seems the woman was smothered to death. However, post mortem reports that will confirm the cause of death are awaited,” said a police officer.

Police also said the probe so far suggests the involvement of an insider because no signs of a forced entry were found.

A case of robbery and murder was registered on Friday night on the basis of a statement by family members, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said.

“CCTV footages from the society are being checked and a list of people who had visited the woman hours before she was killed has been prepared. We have detained a few suspects and they are being questioned. A crime and forensics team also arrived at the house to collect finger prints and other possible evidences,” the officer said.

Police are also checking the woman’s call records to find out who all she had spoken to.

Jain is survived by her husband and a son who works at a multinational company in Noida. The son lives in Noida and visits his parents on the weekends, the police said. The Jains also have a daughter who is a doctor and is married. She is settled with her husband in Goa.

The victim’s husband refused to meet an HT reporter who visited the family’s house.