Bengaluru: The alleged murderer of Monika Ghurde, the well-known perfumer from Goa who was found dead on Wednesday, has been caught in Bengaluru. The alleged killer took a selfie standing in front of an apparel shop in Bengaluru and posted it on Facebook on Saturday, alerting the police.
The accused, 22-year-old Rajkumar Singh, alias Rajesh, a security guard at the apartment in Sangolda in North Goa where Ghurde lived, has also made a startling revelation that he raped the 39-year-old perfumer before smothering her to death.
Rajkumar, who hails from Punjab, was on the run after the murder came to light on Thursday morning. He was nabbed in a lodge in Cottonpet on Sunday afternoon in a joint operation by the Goa and Basavanagudi police.
The Goa police was tracking Rajkumar’s cellphone and Facebook profile. “His phone was switched off and also there was no activity on his social networking profile. On Saturday, the police traced that the killer had withdrawn Rs 50,000 cash using Ghurde’s debit card in Bengaluru. Around 12.30 pm, he posted a selfie on Facebook and it was clicked before an apparel shop. The Goa police traced these activities to Basavanagudi area and immediately alerted the Bengaluru police,” an official said.
The Basavanagudi police swung into action and searched in more than 40 lodges in their jurisdiction and surrounding areas till Saturday night. They were also joined by a Goan police team, which arrived in the city on Saturday evening. “On Sunday morning, we got credible information that he had moved towards Cottonpet. The teams were sent and searches were conducted in various lodges in the locality. At one lodge, we got to know that a suspicious person had checked in but he had gone out. We waited for him for over one-and-a-half-hours till he returned. Once he came in, the Goan police confirmed he was the accused going by his appearance and he was caught in the afternoon,” the official said.
Sources also revealed that the preliminary questioning of the accused revealed that he had raped Monika Ghurde before smothering her to death. “Earlier he was working in Mumbai and had moved to Goa just six months ago. He confessed that he had planned the crime well in advance and had entered her flat late on Wednesday night. He revealed that he tied her hands as she was asleep and raped her, before smothering her using a pillow. Later, he stole her valuables and fled,” the official said.
However, it is not yet known whether he had any accomplices in the crime. The Goan police took him to custody and were questioning him further. They will take him to Goa on Sunday night or Monday morning.
