'Murderer' army major lying about crime, Delhi Police confused
After five days, the investigation in the sensational Shailza Dwivedi murder case has more loose ends than it started with, courtesy accused Nikhil Handa's apparent refusal to cooperate with police. He has been changing his statements, cops said, leaving investigators clueless- they haven't yet managed to locate the murder weapon, or determine what clothes he was wearing, or conclude the motive of the crime.
Handa met Shailza in Nagaland three years ago
Handa and Shailza reportedly met in Nagaland in 2015, when he and her husband, Army Major Amit Dwivedi, were both posted there. The narrative later changed: Handa apparently didn't know her through her husband, but had befriended him to get closer to her. He exchanged 3,300 calls with Shailza since January, to convince her to leave her husband, reports claimed.
Shailza's throat was slit, she was rammed and run over
Saturday, the two took off for a drive in his car, but an argument broke out when they were near the Delhi Cantonment. Handa then slit her throat. She got out and fell on the bonnet before trying to walk away, bleeding. He then rammed the car into her and ran over her. He was nabbed from the Meerut Cantonment a day later.
Meanwhile, he had made friends with other women online
Reports later emerged that Handa had been scouting dating sites during the same time he was allegedly stalking Shailza. He purportedly had two profiles on Facebook- one real and one fake, which portrayed him as a businessman. It was one of these women he had met online whom he called up immediately after killing Shailza, but she told police she thought he was joking.
Police are confused about a missing knife and an umbrella
Handa told police that he had two knives, and had thrown out the bigger one he had used to kill her; police have seized the other. Forensic experts backed his claims. Yesterday, police took Handa to the crime spot, but they couldn't find the knife at the location he pointed out even after a five-hour search. Shailza's umbrella is also missing.
What happened to Nikhil Handa's clothes?
Handa also initially claimed he had burnt and thrown away the clothes he was wearing during the crime, but they weren't found in the garbage dump he said he had thrown them into. Later, police realized he hadn't changed clothes, and was wearing the same ones during arrest. "When confronted, he changed his statement, saying there were no bloodstains on his clothes," an officer said.
90% work done, truth will come out soon: DCP
Addressing reporters, DCP Vijay Kumar said, "Accused Nikhil Handa is giving us misleading information day after day. We have done 90% of the work and the truth will come out in the coming days." Yesterday, they recovered a second mobile phone belonging to Handa. The other was found in his car. The data of both his phones had been wiped off. Handa is currently on four-day remand.
