DEHRADUN/MUSSOORIE: In a cold-blooded murder that has sent shock waves across Dehradun, a 27-year-old man first clicked a selfie with his girlfriend, then slashed her throat after a stroll at a tea estate here. Not stopping at that, the accused, identified as Ashish Kumar, uploaded the selfie as his display picture on WhatsApp and updated his status message to suggest that he had done away with her. On Saturday , Dehradun police found Kumar lying in a pool of blood in a Mussoorie hotel where he had tried to commit suicide by slitting his wrist. He was rushed to a local hospital by the cops. Kumar, a resident of Tyagi Road in the city, had a day before gone to the picturesque tea estate at Prem Nagar with Gurpreet Kaur , 30, on the latter’s two-wheeler. It was there that after a little conversation he first took their selfie with his cell phone and then tried to strangle the woman with a cloth. When that failed, Kumar whipped out a sharp-edged weapon to slit Gurpreet’s neck, wounding her fatally. Hearing Gurpreet's cries for help, local residents rushed to the spot but found that Kumar had already fled from there. SSP (Dehradun ) Sadanand Date told TOI, “ Prima facie it appears that the two were in a relationship and Kumar was annoyed that she was friends with other men too.” According to the senior police officer, after the alleged murder Kumar sent texts to some friends which indicated that he had killed her and also updated his display picture and status on WhatsApp . “Going by the developments, it appears that Kumar had prepared for the murder,” Date said. Dehradun police, which followed leads to trace Kumar at a hotel in Mussoorie 's Mall road area, found him with a deep cut on his wrist. "He had easily lost half a litre of blood. It was a deep cut and he would have probably died had we not reached the hotel on time," said a policeman who did not wish to be named. When TOI visited the hospital where he is admitted, Kumar, in black T shirt and blood stained jeans, said, "I am not unhappy about what I did. I am just disturbed that I am alive. I should have died as well.” Employees at the hotel said they were still in shock. "He looked like a regular guy. He was wearing jeans, T shirt and a jacket, and carried a backpack. He seemed normal. In fact he even smiled while signing the register. You couldn't even imagine he had just murdered someone a few hours back," a staffer said. Date said that Kumar would be arrested after his condition improves. " Gurpeet was married to Gurjeet Singh and the couple had been staying as tenants at Kumar’s residence in Tyagi road for five years. About two months ago, the couple shifted to a house in Rest Camp area in Dehradun ," the officer said. Things went completely awry after that. (With inputs from Prachi Raturi Misra )



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