Uzbek woman's murder: Placement agent owns up to murder of co-

The case of murder of an Uzbek woman here took an unexpected turn with police today claiming that an absconding co-accused, another Uzbek woman, too, was murdered by her partner, a 'placement agent' who has already been arrested.
It was yesterday, four days after his arrest, that accused 'placement agent' Gagan alias Gurvinder confessed to having murdered his partner, Naaz, an Uzbek woman whom police was searching across the country for her alleged involvement in the murder of an associate from her country.
DCP (South) Prem Nath said that Gagan has confessed to having murdered Naaz and dumping her body on the outskirts of a village in Hapur district of UP.

He also set Naaz's body on fire, a senior police official said, even as it is alleged that Gagan and her had burnt the body of the other Uzbek woman, which was found dumped on the outskirts of Samalkha town in Haryana behind the farmhouse of a former legislator.
Gagan allegedly killed Naaz days after the two of them had strangled to death the other Uzbek woman. Yesterday, after his confession, the accused led police to the spot where he had dumped Naaz's body.
When Hapur police was contacted, it came to light that a "charred female body" was found on October 6 and a case of murder was registered there, said the senior official.

In a press statement today, police said: "Gagan has killed the Uzbek woman (name withheld) as Naaz had to pay money to her in return of her passport. And he killed Naaz so that police could not trace her as she was the only accomplice and witness to the Uzbek woman's murder."

However, the exact date on which Naaz was murdered and how she was killed are yet to be verified by the investigators, considering Gagan's response throughout the probe till now, said an official.
Naaz could have been murdered between September 25 and October 6, police said.
According to police sources, Gagan allegedly managed to mislead investigators not only for around six weeks -- the time police took to arrest him after grilling him in connection with the disappearance of the first Uzbek woman -- but also during custodial interrogation, disclosing facts in instalments.