GURGAON: In a brutal murder that shocked the city on the eve of Diwali, a 55-year-old businessman shot his wife nine times at his Palam Vihar bungalow after a heated argument on Wednesday.

Police said they had heard "rumours" that the businessman, Dinesh Khullar , had an extra-marital affair but were not willing to speculate if that triggered the argument on Wednesday afternoon. Khullar and his 50-year-old wife Alka used to have frequent fights, police said.

At 12.20pm, two servants of house no. 2238 in Palam Vihar heard gunshots and when they rushed to the couple's room, they saw Alka lying in a pool of blood. Vikas, one of the servants present in the house at the time of the crime, said Khullar didn't allow him to call an ambulance or police.

"Dinesh, a furniture businessman who has a shop in Delhi's Kirti Nagar, threatened the servants and they called us only after he left the house," said an investigator at the Palam Vihar police station.

While cops were unable to trace the accused till late night, his daughter received a call from him in the evening. "Dinesh called Abha and confessed. Abha has given us call details and on her statement we have filed an FIR under Section 302 of the IPC and Arms Act," added the investigator. The couple's married son, a pilot, lives in Indonesia, while Abha lives in Janakpuri . "We have recorded statements of male servant Vikas and the maid as witnesses.

We are waiting for their son before conducting a postmortem," said sub-inspector Sakender Kumar.

Jyoti Khullar, the accused's sister, told TOI, "My alcoholic brother tortured Alka many times. Though he is my brother, I want to see him behind bars. My sister-in-law should get justice ."

Police commissioner Alok Mittal said, "The accused used to have regular fights with his wife after getting drunk. We are also trying to establish the truth behind the rumors that he had extra-marital affairs. We hope to arrest him soon."

