Retired IAS official's wife murdered by ex-servant in Indore, accused arrested

INDORE: In a chilling episode, the aged wife of an ailing retired IAS officer and former MP Finance Corporation (MPFC) chairman DY Manawwar was brutally murdered by ex-domestic help at the elderly couple’s bungalow in Indore’s posh Manish Puri locality on Sunday evening.
The 75-year-old Fay Manawwar's body was later dumped by the 25-year-old accused Hridyesh near the Silver Springs residential township in Ralamandal area on city’s outskirts and the couple’s car subsequently abandoned in Scheme-140 area the same night.
The matter came to light, when other staff of the elderly couple, including the cook and another domestic helps found Fay and the car missing from the couple’s bungalow on Monday.
“The matter was subsequently reported at Palasia police station on Monday by the couple’s personal staff, after which a missing person complaint was lodged by the police. During the course of investigations, we scanned CCTV footage retrieved from a cameras installed in a multi-storey apartment in front of the Manawwar couple’s bungalow,” SP East OP Tripathi told TOI.
“With the help of couple’s personal staff we identified the accused Hridyesh in the footage, who was fired from job by the retired IAS official’s wife two years ago for drinking too much.Hridyesh was rounded up for questioning in the evening and he confessed to killing Fay inside the bungalow, while her bedridden husband 80-year-old DY Manawwar was in the other room on Sunday evening,” added Tripathi.
The arrested accused Hridyesh, who is a native of MP’s Guna district, disclosed that he had went to the aged couple’s bungalow for getting Rs 5,000 as he had to urgently repay Rs 18,000 to someone. But when Fay refused to give him money, he pushed her down on which she became unconscious.
Fearing that on gaining consciousness she would make the matter public and he would be caught by police, Hridyesh whipped out a knife and hacked Fay to death.
He subsequently took the body in the couple’s car and dumped Fay’s body near the Silver Springs township on city’s outskirts. He later drove the car, but with the car running out of fuel, he dumped the car near the IDA powerhouse in Scheme-140 area.
Hridyesh returned to the couple’s bungalow on Sunday night and washed the remains of blood from the floor and decamped with cash and jewellery from the house.
Based on Hridyesh’s grilling on Monday evening, Fay’s body was recovered from the city’s outskirts and the car from Scheme-140 area in late night.
The accused has been arrested and booked for murder and destruction of evidence, the SP East said.
Both daughters of Manawwar couple, who live in Australia have been informed about the shuddering episode.
Besides, being ex-MPFC chairman, the ailing DY Manawwar had also served as collector in Indore and Mandsaur decades back, the SP East OP Tripathi informed.