Husband held for home tutor’s murder

Times News NetworkLudhiana: City police have arrested the husband of home tutor Pooja, 26, who was found murdered in the house on Monday. Police said that the couple had strained relations because of her misbehaviour with her stepson. They said that she would treat the 14-year-old boy as house help, making him do all household chores. She would also give him stale food to eat. When the accused asked for divorce, she threatened to implicate him in a dowry case.Police have arrested Dadwal Singh, who worked as supervisor at Vardhman Mills. He used a paper cutting knife to slit her throat while she was sleeping.Police commissioner Mandeep Singh Sidhu said, “At around 7:30am on Monday, police received information about the murder of the tuition teacher at Garden City, Bhamiya Road. Her 14-year-old stepson saw her body and informed the neighbours. He borrowed a mobile phone from the neighbours and called his father, who had gone to Phagwara.”He added that Dadwal and Pooja got married in 2017, after the death of Dadwal’s first wife. This was Pooja’s first marriage and Dadwal had a son and a daughter from the previous marriage. “While the daughter lives with her grandmother in Bihar, the son used to live with his father and stepmother in Ludhiana. Pooja and Dadwal also have twin sons from their marriage. The police probe found that Pooja used to mistreat her stepson. She would make him do all household chores and would also thrash him often. Neighbours of the family confirmed this. This caused strained relations between Dadwal and Pooja. Dadwal wanted to get rid of Pooja and hatched a conspiracy to kill her” said Sidhu.Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Industrial Area A, Jatinder Singh said that Dadwal could not stand Pooja treating his son like a house help and giving him stale food. He had asked for a divorce but Pooja demanded a big alimony, including the house, against the divorce. She also threatened to implicate Dadwal in a dowry harassment case if he did not give her the money and house against the divorce. Dadwal felt trapped and decided to kill her. He was looking for a chance to execute his plan. When Dadwal’s nephew fell ill, he had to go to Phagwara to see him. He used this as an alibi and executed the murder.“Dadwal left the house on his bike and parked it at the office. From there he took a bus to reach Phagwara. Then he made a video call to his mother-in-law to create evidence in his favour. At night, Dadwal took a bus from Phagwara to Ludhiana. Then he took an auto to reach home. The main gate of the house was unlocked as his son had forgotten to lock it. Dadwal killed Pooja using a paper cutter, cleaned himself and went out. He took an auto to the bus stand, got a bus from there and reached Phagwara again,” said sub-inspector Jaspal Singh, SHO at Jamalpur police station.The top cop said that the son of the accused came to know about the murder when his father left the house but kept quiet as he was scared. He had no role in the murder, said the police.