Nagpur, Mar 14 (PTI) Investigation into the murder of a former press photographer in Maharashtra’s Nagpur has revealed that a woman, with whom he was allegedly in a relationship with, hatched a conspiracy of his murder and asked a shooter to kill him, police said on Thursday.
The 54-year-old former photographer, Vinay alias Bablu Poonekar, was shot dead at his residence in Raj Nagar on February 23, they said.
Police have arrested Sakshi Grover (36) in connection with the murder, while the shooter, identified as Hemant Shukla, is on the run.
“During her questioning, Grover denied having any link with the murder. However, the police later retrieved her deleted WhatsApp chats with Shukla, which revealed that the woman had instigated him to kill Poonekar,” an official of Sadar police station said.
“Based on Grover’s instructions, Shukla fired two bullets at Poonekar. During the probe, it was found that the bullets were fired from two separate weapons,” he said.
According to police, Grover hails from Madhya Pradesh. Her husband had died a couple of years after her marriage. She had an affair with Poonekar earlier and was in a relationship with Shukla at present. However, Shukla suspected that she was still having an affair with Poonekar, to which he objected.
Senior police officials later went through the retrieved WhatsApp chats between Grover and Shukla, and found that on February 22, she had called Shukla and asked him to kill Poonekar.
Her WhatsApp message to Shukla in Hindi read, “Agar main uska ghar dikha doon, to kya tum usko maar doge? (Will you kill him if I show you his house?)”, the police official said.
“This showed that Grover was not only aware of the murder, but actively involved in the conspiracy,” he added.
Efforts are on to nab Shukla, the police officials said. PTI COR NP
About the Author
