india

Updated: Apr 24, 2019 21:30 IST

Delhi Police said on Wednesday they have arrested the wife of Rohit Shekhar Tiwari, the son of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister ND Tiwari, in connection with his murder.

Shekhar was found dead last Tuesday and the report of an autopsy last Friday said that there were signs that he died of “asphyxiation due to ante-mortem strangulation and smothering” prompting the police to start a murder investigation.

A crime branch officer associated with the case claimed that Apoorva confessed to killing her husband after an argument. Apoorva first allegedly strangled Rohit Shekhar and then smothered him using her hand. The officer said Rohit Shekhar could not fight back because he was drunk and was physically weak after a heart surgery.

Shekhar’s wife Apoorva and his half-brother Siddharth were at home, along with the three servants, at the time of his death.

“Rohit Shekhar and his family had gone to Kathgodam in Uttarakhand to cast their vote on April 10. On their way back on April 15, he was drinking all the way from Uttarakhand to Delhi,” Rajiv Ranjan,Delhi Additional CP (Crime) said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

Police had questioned the five people and said they did not suspect the role of an outsider. “His wife has been arrested today morning by the crime branch,” a spokesperson of Delhi Police said.

The commissioner said that the Rohit Shekhar and Apoorva Shukla Tiwari’s marriage was a troubled and unhappy one from the beginning. “

“All her hopes were belied. They had a fight at night over Rohit Shekhar drinking with a relative. The fight turned physical and she first strangulated and then smothered him. Rohit Shekhar, who was inebriated, was not in a position to resist,” Rajeev Ranjan said.

“Investigation has proved it beyond doubt that it is her (Apoorva, Rohit’s wife) work and she has confessed to it. Till now no evidence has been found regarding someone else’s involvement,” Ranjan said.

Ranjan said that Apoorva Shukla Tiwari, Rohit Shekhar’s wife, had been placed under arrest and would be produced in court where the police would seek her remand.

Also read: ND Tiwari’s son Rohit was smothered, says Delhi Police, files murder case

A lawyer by profession, Rohit Shekhar, had worked as an advisor to the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav from 2015 to 2017 following which he stayed with ND Tiwari, his biological father, until the latter’s death in October last year.

Rohit Shekhar is survived by his mother, Ujjwala and wife. ND Tiwari had not married Rohit Shekhar’s mother before his birth. In 2012, he filed paternity suit claiming ND Tiwari to be his biological father. A DNA test confirmed his claim and in 2014, ND Tiwari married Ujjwala.