Rs 7 lakh dispute likely to be motive for Swiss woman's murder: Sources
New Delhi (PTI): A financial dispute is suspected to be the main motive for the murder of the Swiss woman whose body was found in west Delhi last month, sources in the Delhi Police said on Monday.
The accused -- 33-year-old Gurpreet Singh who has studied up to class 8 -- was booked in another case under the Arms Act after four firearms were seized from his house, they said.
Nina Berger owed Rs 7 lakh to Singh and her attempts to withdraw the money from different ATMs went in vain due to technical reasons as her bank account was in Switzerland, the sources said.
The decomposed body of Berger, aged around 30 years, was found near the wall of a municipal school in Tilak Nagar on October 20. Her limbs were tied with metal chains, which were locked.
Singh, a gemstone dealer, was arrested a day after the body was found and he was sent to Tihar Jail on Sunday after his police custody ended.
Earlier, Singh revealed that he killed Berger because she turned down his marriage proposal.
Police sources said during the course of interrogation and on the basis of chats retrieved from BErger's mobile phone, the reason for the murder is suspected to be the financial dispute.
"In their chats, Singh had repeatedly demanded the money back from Berger. Before the murder, Berger had attempted to withdraw the money from different ATMs but failed. Singh had accompanied her during one of her visits to an ATMS," a police official said.
Berger also approached a bank manager to check if she could withdraw the huge amount from her Switzerland-based bank account, police said.
According to police, Singh had known Berger for the last five years and during his Switzerland visit, he offered her gemstones and performed an occult ritual, in which she participated, assuring her that it would end all her problems.
The chats also revealed that he forced her to come to India.
On the day of the incident, she again failed to withdraw money from a bank. Singh then suggested she take part in another occult ritual and tied her limbs and he covered her face with a garbage bag which led to her death due to suffocation, police said.
Police also said that they have launched an investigation into the weapons seized from one of Singh's houses.
Apart from a house in Janakpuri, where Singh's mother and sister live, he owns another house in Tilak Nagar from where three sophisticated weapons and a country-made pistol were seized along with 28 bullets.
Police have registered a separate FIR under the Arms Act at the Tilak Nagar police station and Singh could be taken into police custody again, the sources said.
Police also suspect that Singh's father, who is believed to be in France and still has not come to India to join the probe, knew Berger and met her in Switzerland and France.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
