As dramatic as it gets, but a former Indian Information Service (IIS) officer kept hiding inside a store room for more than 10 hours after killing his wife even as police teams along with a dog squad searched his property.
This store room measuring less than 5 ft by 5 ft was located in the 'almost unused' second floor of the two-storey house, which was at the centre of the dispute between the couple.
Nitin Nath Sinha, 62, had prepared morning tea for himself when the argument started over him selling the house -- valued at Rs 4.5 crore -- in posh Sector 30 on Sunday, while his wife Renu Sinha, 61, objected to it.
Sinha allegedly strangled his wife to death around 9.30 am after the heated argument.
Such fights had become frequent between them. The wife suffered from cancer and had a fragile health condition while their son worked and lived in the US, officials said.
"Around 12 pm, Sinha even had a visitor at home. It was a property broker with whom Sinha was negotiating the deal for selling off his paternal house and had taken an advance of Rs 55 lakh," an officer privy to the investigation told PTI.
"The retired man had left his wife's body in the bathroom attached to a room on the ground floor and went to attend the broker. Exuding alacrity, he then took the broker to the upper floor of the house, telling him that both the floors of the house were designed in a similar fashion," the officer said.
The broker left the house around 1 pm and when Sinha went back to the bathroom, he was sure that his wife had died.
There was no movement whatsoever to suggest any life remaining.
A little time went by and he started getting phone calls from his brother-in-law Ajay, whose phone calls to his sister Renu had been going unanswered since Saturday.
"Worried over the whereabouts of his sister, Ajay, who lives in Sector 45 of the city, had approached the local police around 3 pm. He then went to the house himself and later the police also reached there. The locks at the entry gate of the property and the main door were broken for entry," the police officer said.
In the meantime, Ajay and Renu's neighbours made phone calls to Nitin Sinha, who told them that he was in Delhi's Lodhi Garden area.
He said he would return by evening and meet them.
Once inside the house, the police team found Renu's body in the bathroom and Ajay raised strong suspicion that Sinha could be behind this act.
The brother also raised suspicion that Sinha could flee the country, according to the officer.
His car was found inside the house and Sinha's phone went switched off around 3.30 pm.
Forensic experts and a dog squad reached the spot half an hour later as senior police officers supervised the investigation in the case.
"The ground floor of the house was thoroughly inspected while only a rudimentary search was carried out on the upper floor which had not been in use since 2021 when Sinha's mother passed away during COVID-19 pandemic," the police officer said.
"Another challenge for the police was based on Ajay's suspicion that Sinha could flee India. Hence police trained its focus on preventing that from happening. Areas nearby the house were searched, police teams sent to metro stations, and even some hotels nearby searched to trace Sinha," the officer told PTI.
Police teams were also told to monitor routes leading to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and the roads leading to Nepal border, even as a Look Out Circular was issued at the earliest against Sinha.
However, the former ADG-rank IIS officer was nowhere to be found and analysis of CCTV footage from the neighbourhood and his phone record suggested he never left the house.
"This prompted another round of intensive search inside the house, especially on the upper floor, which is ridden with cobwebs all around it and most of the rooms locked," the officer said.
"A little before midnight, the police team started breaking down doors of the rooms. It's a big house spread over 3,000 sq ft and had around 10 rooms. Ultimately, Sinha was found hiding inside a small store room which is attached to a room," he said.
The store room measures less than 5 ft by 5ft in area. Sinha had carried a water bottle and some cigarettes along with him. He hid himself in the store room at 3.30 pm and was found at 1 am, the officer said.
The police said Sinha told them upon arrest that he was scared after his wife's death and did not know how to respond to the situation because of which he went and hid himself in the store room.
"He told police that he had planned to speak to his lawyer in the morning and then take the next step accordingly but got caught before that," the official added.
