Man who shot dead wife to be quizzed by cops for 3 more days

A Delhi court today allowed the police to interrogate for three more days the restaurateur, who allegedly shot his wife dead while their two-year-old son slept on her lap inside their car.

Pankaj Mehra (35) was presented before the court on expiry of his custody and it was extended till November 2 for "proper investigation".

"Taking into account the disclosure statements made by the accused...and the investigation carried out by the police, I'm of the considered opinion that three days of police custody of the accused is required for proper investigation," Metropolitan Magistrate Anurag Thakur said.

The police, which sought five-day custody of the accused, submitted before the court that the weapon with which the crime was carried out was yet to be recovered.
 

The police also said Pankaj Mehra's alleged lover had to be traced with his help so that they could be confronted to "unearth the deep rooted conspiracy".

Pankaj Mehra, through his advocate Sanjay Sharma, opposed the police's plea and said he was in custody since October 24 and even after six days, nothing worthwhile had come out of the investigation.

On October 24, Pankaj Mehra shot his wife Priya Mehra (34) near the Rohini jail when they were returning from the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, the police said.

The police said Pankaj Mehra then tried to mislead them by claiming that his wife was killed by lenders who had been threatening him as he owed them money.

According to the police, Pankaj Mehra was confronted with evidence against him and he confessed to killing his wife. He had also broke the window pane of the car and inflicted a wound on his forehead to make his claim look genuine, police said.

It said that the accused had earlier claimed that two men in a car had intercepted his car near Rohini jail. One of them broke the window and got into a scuffle with him while brandishing a pistol.

During the scuffle, two rounds were fired and his wife was hit. But before the accused could attack him, Pankaj Mehra fled from there and took his wife to a private hospital where she was declared "brought dead".

However, when the police analysed the CCTV footage from the area, they found only his car moving on the road and no other vehicle was visible, the police said.

Police were probing from where the accused had procured the illegal firearm and also whether he was in any other extra-marital relationship.