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Sumesh Rajan
20
January 2025
In a shocking case of premeditated murder, Delhi police have solved a ‘blind case’ involving body parts found in rice sacks at a dumpsite in East Delhi, India. The investigation, which initially had no clear leads, was cracked after months of meticulous police work, ultimately revealing a gruesome crime committed by a woman and her son.
Discovery of the remains
On June 5, 2022, residents near Old Ram Leela Maidan in East Delhi stumbled upon a foul-smelling rice sack amidst garbage piles. Upon inspection, they were horrified to find human body parts inside. A few meters away, another sack was discovered containing a skull.
Beat constable Ashish, who was patrolling nearby, arrived at the scene and alerted his senior officers at Pandav Nagar police station. A forensic team was immediately deployed. Initial examinations revealed that the remains belonged to a man in his early 40s, and a critical detail emerged -- the body parts had been frozen before being discarded.
Initial
Investigation and Dead Ends
The location of the crime scene, situated near Sanjay Lake and flanked by dense slum clusters in Kalyanpuri and Trilokpuri, suggested that the perpetrators were familiar with the area. Detectives searched for CCTV footage but found limited surveillance. However, a camera mounted on a two-story house overlooking the dump yard provided a crucial lead -- a blurry video showing two unidentified individuals, a man and a woman, disposing of the sacks. Notably, the woman was holding a distinctive white mobile phone. Police conducted extensive searches, using sniffer dogs and even inspecting local refrigerators for clues. However, after 15 days, the case had reached a dead end.
Breakthrough
After Five Months
Despite early setbacks, investigators turned to technological analysis. They reviewed mobile phone activity near the crime scene on the suspected date of the murder, scrutinizing data from nearly a thousand phones. On November 5, officers identified a suspicious number that had been active until May 30 -- the presumed date of the killing -- before going silent.
The
phone was registered to 45-year-old Anjan Das, a resident of Trilokpuri.
Further analysis of call records revealed that Das had been in regular contact
with two other numbers, both of which went inactive on June 6, a day after the
body parts were found.
Tracing
the Perpetrators
Investigators followed the lead to the residence of 48-year-old Poonam Devi, Das’s wife, in Trilokpuri. When questioned, she claimed that her husband had travelled to his native village in the state of Bihar. However, officers dispatched to Banka, Bihar, discovered that Das had not visited in a long time.
Under
questioning, Poonam provided conflicting statements. Her body structure and
gait closely resembled the silhouette seen in the CCTV footage. The
breakthrough came when police recovered the distinctive white mobile phone seen
in the footage, still in her possession. Confronted with the evidence, Poonam
confessed, revealing that she and her son Deepak had killed Das, dismembered
his body, and disposed of the remains.
The
Motive and Execution of the Crime
Poonam, originally from Jharkhand, had been married twice before marrying Das in 2016. Her first husband disappeared after she bore a daughter, and her second husband died from alcohol addiction. She had four children from previous marriages before her marriage to Das, which quickly deteriorated due to his alcoholism.
Tensions escalated when Poonam discovered that Das had a previous wife and, allegedly, had attempted to assault both her daughter and daughter-in-law. Enraged, she and her son meticulously planned his murder.
On May 30, Deepak purchased a large knife, rice sacks, and sleeping pills. That evening, Poonam and Deepak laced Das’s drink with sedatives. Once he lost consciousness, Deepak repeatedly stabbed him until he died. The duo then dismembered his body into ten pieces, stored them in a refrigerator, and later disposed of them in a dumpsite.
Legal
Proceedings and Impact
Poonam and Deepak, who had no prior criminal records, were arrested and charged with murder. The case sent shockwaves through the community, highlighting the extreme nature of domestic disputes escalating into violence. Authorities commended the persistent investigative work, emphasizing the role of digital forensics and surveillance technology in solving what had initially appeared to be an unsolvable crime.
This case underscores the growing importance of forensic and technical analysis in modern policing, while also shedding light on the deep-seated issues of domestic violence and substance abuse that can lead to tragic outcomes.
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