Pet parrot leads police to his mistress' killer

Agra: A talking parrot has helped the police to crack the case of its mistress' murder after it "identified" the alleged killer.

Neelam, wife of a local Hindi newspaper editor Vijay Sharma, was found murdered at her residence in Balkeshwar colony here on February 20, police said.

While the police were looking for the killer, Sharma noted a change in the behaviour of their pet parrot whenever his nephew, Ashutosh Sharma Goswami, came to the house. "It sulked every time Ashutosh passed its cage," Sharma's brother Ajay said.

Growing suspicious, the victim's family started taking names of possible suspects in front of the parrot. When Ashutosh's name was taken, the parrot started shouting 'Usne maara, Usne maara' (He has killed), Ajay said.

The family then informed the police, who took Ashutosh into custody. On questioning, Ashutosh confessed to the crime.

Ashutosh told police that along with his accomplice, Ronny Massey, entered Sharma's house and forced Neelam to hand over cash and valuables at the point of a dagger. Afraid that she would reveal his identity, Ashutosh allegedly stabbed her to death.

He also allegedly stabbed Sharma's pet dog to death when he started barking at him. Both of them have been arrested and charged with murder and loot, Agra SSP Shalabh Mathur said.

"We got a lot of help from the parrot to zero in on the murderer," the SSP added.