Kanpur: The night seemed to be ending on a celebratory note, with Shalu Minocha dancing to “Tum To Dhokhebaaz Ho, Vaada Karke Bhool Jaate Ho” at a Kanpur lounge. But while the party continued, a chilling scene was unfolding back home — her 63-year-old father-in-law, a crorepati pharmaceutical businessman Vineet Minocha, was being stabbed repeatedly.Police say the unlikely link between the dance floor and the murder was a phone call by 30-year-old Shalu to the killers. By the time the night was over, Vineet (63) lay dead at his home, with 26 stab wounds on his body.Investigators have found that she was in frequent contact with the alleged assailants and suspected she was guiding them during the crime.Police said Shalu and her husband Subrat were at Cosmozin Lounge in Tilak Nagar when the assailants allegedly attacked Vineet at his flat on Sept 5. Investigators suspect she remained in touch with the accused during the crime, with the killers purportedly keeping her informed through WhatsApp calls, messages and voice calls.The lounge’s camera DVR had no storage, police said, but videos recorded by staff confirmed the couple’s presence there. One video shows around 20-25 people, mostly couples, dancing to Bollywood songs. The woman is seen wearing a dark purple gown, while her husband is dressed in a grey shirt.Police said call records showed the woman, her husband and former domestic help Vishal Gautam spoke 330 times in the 21 days before the murder. Around 30 of these calls involved the woman and nearly 300 involved her husband. Police are still examining her husband’s role in the alleged conspiracy.On the day of the murder, the woman and Gautam spoke 14 times. Investigators also recovered WhatsApp call records between the two, despite Gautam allegedly deleting their chats.Police suspect Shalu had been planning the murder for around three months and had gradually developed a rapport with Gautam. According to investigators, Gautam initially sent her good morning and good night messages without receiving a response, but she began replying around three months ago. She allegedly complimented him on his looks, calling him smart, and asked about his relationship status and why he had not yet married.Investigators believe Shalu allegedly hired Gautam for Rs 6 lakh over a dispute involving CCTV cameras installed by Vineet at their apartment. She claimed her father-in-law kept a close watch on activities inside the house through CCTV cameras and objected whenever she returned home late.She allegedly gave him the original key so that he could get a duplicate made and informed him when she, her husband and son would be away.Gautam allegedly brought in Raj Kishore, 30, and the two entered the flat on Sept 5 after being identified to security personnel as medicine delivery men. The duo allegedly hid in a bedroom and planned to suffocate Vineet so that his death would appear to have been caused by a heart attack.However, when Vineet returned around 10.55pm and discovered them, the two allegedly attacked him. Police said he was stabbed repeatedly and his throat was slit before the accused fled. The postmortem found 26 stab wounds.CCTV footage and call records helped investigators reconstruct the alleged conspiracy. Gautam and Kishore were arrested after an encounter on Sept 6, while the woman was arrested the following night and sent to judicial custody.DCP West SM Qasim Abidi said Gautam erased his chat history with Shalu after the murder but failed to completely delete the WhatsApp call records. Investigators subsequently found evidence of multiple exchanges between the two.The family said the woman’s five-year-old son has become withdrawn since her arrest. He is eating poorly, sleeping badly and often wakes up frightened, calling for his mother. He also asks relatives when she will return and where his grandfather has gone.According to the family, the boy was close to Vineet, who had gifted him a bike on his last birthday.
