Panchkula: A 72-year-old woman, wife of a retired Army captain, was found dead on the rooftop of a neighbouring house in Sector 21 on Monday, with police arresting her longtime caretaker, along with the caretaker’s husband and son, in connection with the alleged murder. The victim’s body was found concealed under a mat and hidden behind roof tiles.Police identified the deceased as Neera Mehta, wife of retired Army captain Manmohan Lal Mehta. The arrested accused have been identified as caretaker Sunita, her husband Shankar, and their son. The postmortem report has found that Neera was killed by strangulation and smothering.According to police, the Mehtas owned two houses in Sector 21. While the couple lived in one house, the second property had been entrusted to Sunita, who had also been working as their domestic help and caretaker for the past 12 to 15 years. Sunita (50) and her husband (55) belonged to Bihar.Police said some jewellery belonging to Neera had gone missing recently. Around 11.30 am on Monday, she reportedly went to Sunita’s house to question her about the missing ornaments. At the same time, her husband left home to play golf.When Manmohan returned around 3 pm, he found his wife missing. After searching the neighbourhood and contacting relatives without success, he approached the police and reported her disappearance.Since Neera was last known to have visited the caretaker’s residence, police reached the house around 7 pm. They found it locked. According to sources, Shankar allegedly tried to mislead investigators by claiming that his wife and son were also missing.Suspicious of the circumstances, police entered the premises through the roof from an adjoining house. During the search, they found scattered items at the residence. Neera’s body was eventually recovered from the rooftop of a neighbouring house, concealed under a mat behind stacked tiles.The discovery heightened police suspicions, following which Shankar was questioned. During interrogation, he allegedly disclosed details about the crime. Sunita and her son were later apprehended from a nearby house where they were allegedly hiding.Preliminary investigation revealed that Sunita and Neera had a heated argument over the missing jewellery, after which the elderly woman was allegedly killed.A case was registered at Police Station Sector-20 under Sections 103(1), 238(B), 3(5), and 305 of the BNS.“The role of the caretaker’s husband and son in the crime is also being ascertained,” said DCP Aditi Singh.
