Two persons were arrested by the Mumbai police in connection with the murder of model and actress Kritika Chaudhary. She was found dead in her rented apartment in Andheri on June 12. According to police, Kritika was killed as she had owed Rs 6,000 to a local drug dealer in the city. Initially police had registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) but post mortem reports confirmed that miscreants had hit Chaudhary on her head as she sustained severe injuries and died.
“Miscreants have been identified as Shakeel Naseem Khan, 33, a resident of Nalasopara, and Badshah Basudas Makmalal, 40, a Govandi resident. We identified them after viewing the CCTV footage images. Last year, Kritika had purchased drugs from Khan but she failed to make the payment for it. Miscreants demanded money from Kritika and also had visited her residence to collect it. However, she refused to pay the money and began quarrelling with them,” said a senior police officer.
“Later accused hit Kritika with a sharp object as she sustained severe injuries. After murdering Kritika, miscreants also had stolen her jewellery. Jewellery worth Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh was missing from the victim’s body. We have registered a case under IPC section 302, for punishment of murder,” he added.
After committing the crime, miscreants shifted to Malwani in Malad (W) and later relocated to Panvel. Police had arrested one of the accused from Panvel. The duo was produced before magistrate’s court on Monday and they have been remanded in police custody for a week.
During the investigation in the case, the Amboli police had questioned Chaudhary’s family members, friends, relatives as well as her acquaintances.
The police claimed that the watchman of the housing society, where Chaudhary lived, told them that he saw two men entering the premises with Ms Chaudhary a few days before her body was found.
The police then launched a search for the two men. According to police sources, Ms Chaudhary was married, but had separated from her husband.
“Two men have been arrested in connection with actor Kritika Chaudhary’s murder,” said Paramjit Dahiya, Zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police.
Kritika’s brother Deepak Chaudhary nonetheless claim that she can’t be murdered for a paltry sum of Rs 6,000. He said, “Six thousand is not a big amount for which anybody could be murdered. There is something fishy about the incident and thorough probe must be carried out to ascertain the truth.”
Kritika’s neighbour informed that several persons used to visit her residence. She never used to indulge in any activities which would raise any suspicion.
With the arrest of the two persons, the police claimed to have cracked the case.
Ms Chaudhary, who hailed from Haridwar in Uttarakhand, had appeared in a small role in the Kangana Ranaut-starrer film “Rajjo”, which released in 2013. She had also worked in some TV serials.
