Just hours after the murder of the 22-year-old UPSC aspirant at her home in South East Delhi, the accused, Rahul Meena, 23, booked a hotel room in Dwarka.
After the gruesome murder and rape, the accused reportedly took the victim’s iPhone and dumped it in a dustbin at a park. He then hired a cab at the Palam Railway Station. He reportedly paid Rs 6000 for the ride, Sources told the Indian Express.
“At around 8.17 am, he reached the station, but till that time, he missed his train. He later hired an auto-rickshaw and reached a hotel in Dwarka, where he had booked a room for Rs 2,000 till 6.30 pm. He told police that while the room rental was Rs 1,500, the hotel staff took Rs 500 more, because he did not have any identification documents,” the source added.
After booking the hotel room, he ordered a T-shirt from a delivery app and opted for the cash-on-delivery option. Later, he ordered chicken curry with roti.
He was also carrying a mobile phone with a dual SIM card, which he stole from the victim's hours in Alway after the murder and rape.
He used the phone to contact his cousin, who lives in Gurgaon and spoke to him using his Instagram messenger. His cousin as reportedly worried about him as he had arrived in Delhi without telling his family members.
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“He asked him to reassure the family that he was fine and would return with money. But in the meantime, a team of southeast district police reached and nabbed him,” the source added.
During the investigation, police uncovered that the accused stole over one lakh rupees in cash and jewellery from the hotel room in Dwarka. The money he used to pay for the hotel room was from the stolen cash from the IRS officer’s house
It was also revealed that the accused used to be addicted to online gambling sites and had borrowed money from people around him. Police are now trying to identify the people who lent him money to understand the network.