GURUGRAM: Shefali Bhasin Tiwari owned two flats in Ansal Valley View society along with her husband, who works in a multinational firm. In 2015, they sold one flat to Vikram Chouhan, a senior executive with an infrastructure company. Thats how Shefali and Vikram first met. But their interactions did not end with the house deal. They bonded as neighbours, and chatted at the society compound where they took their children to play. The casual encounters turned into attraction. By November 2017, they were having an affair that would, a year later, lead to murder.
Shefali (35), a freelance writer-blogger who had a short stint as a journalist, was arrested on Tuesday, two weeks after Vikram was taken into custody for allegedly murdering his wife Deepika (32). Shefali is six months pregnant with her second child. She has a daughter, who is 4 years old, police said.
Deepika, a branch manager with Indian Bank, was allegedly pushed from the balcony of her eighth floor flat in the society on October 28, according to police, who said they had cracked the case with Shefalis arrest. Cops said they were expecting to arrest a third person who was present on spot when Deepika was pushed.
Shefali is accused of planning and plotting Deepikas alleged murder. Vikram and Shefali, investigators said, had done extensive planning to kill Deepika, so that they could live together. Police said they pieced together evidence from a common Gmail account used by the two and their interactions various social media chat services, including WhatsApp and Gtalk. DLF Phase 1 SHO Sanjeev Kumar, the investigating officer, said Shefali has been sent to judicial custody. We collected sufficient evidence against Shefali before arresting her, he said, adding she had been booked under sections 120B (conspiracy) and 201 (destroying evidence) of the IPC. Vikram and Shefali who were both married to their college crushes had decided the only way for them to be together was by getting a divorce, police said. Shefali convinced her husband to agree to a divorce but Vikram dithered. Shefali then began to egg on Vikram to eliminate his wife, investigators said. A plan was hatched to push Deepika from a height, knowing she had acrophobia. A senior police official said the two stored pictures and videos of their intimate acts on the common mail account. Among the exchanges found on the email and chats were details of a five-day package tour of Leh and Ladakh that Vikram and Shefali undertook in April 2018 as husband and wife. On their return, they decided to seek divorce from their respective spouses. Vikram asked Deepika for divorce in May. She refused and engaged her in-laws to mediate. To counter the pressure from his parents, Vikram started levelling allegations of infidelity against Deepika. In one of the emails sent to Vikram, Shefali wrote, Leaving ka matlab kya (What do you mean by leaving)? Either you divorce her or kill her then only she will not be your wife. She also taunted Vikram, calling him a loser for not getting rid of his wife. Extensive planning followed, after which, on October 24, Vikram took Deepika to Nainital on vacation hoping to push her off from a hill and call it an accident, police said. The email exchanges reveal Deepika may have sensed something wrong and refused to go sightseeing and returned to Gurugram after two days. In an email to Shefali, Vikram wrote, She is not going to edge and cancelling sightseeing plans. In response, Shefali wrote, Even if takes 10 days, stay there but dont return with her.
A day after returning from Nainital, Shefali and Vikram again started planning to push Deepika from the balcony, and even drew a map to execute their plan, police said. Hours before the incident, the two were talking to each other on Gtalk. At around 7.40pm, two hours before the murder, Shefali wrote: Balcony se phek do kamini ko (Throw the rascal from the balcony). Vikram replied: I want to badly right now ..she is shouting. At around 9.30pm, Vikrams parents, who had come to mediate, left. At around 9.37pm, Vikram allegedly pushed Deepika from the balcony, but when she clung to its railing, he forcibly unlocked her grip and pushed her down, police said. Afterwards, he broke some flower pots in the balcony to make it appear as suicide.
Shefali (35), a freelance writer-blogger who had a short stint as a journalist, was arrested on Tuesday, two weeks after Vikram was taken into custody for allegedly murdering his wife Deepika (32). Shefali is six months pregnant with her second child. She has a daughter, who is 4 years old, police said.
Deepika, a branch manager with Indian Bank, was allegedly pushed from the balcony of her eighth floor flat in the society on October 28, according to police, who said they had cracked the case with Shefalis arrest. Cops said they were expecting to arrest a third person who was present on spot when Deepika was pushed.
Shefali is accused of planning and plotting Deepikas alleged murder. Vikram and Shefali, investigators said, had done extensive planning to kill Deepika, so that they could live together. Police said they pieced together evidence from a common Gmail account used by the two and their interactions various social media chat services, including WhatsApp and Gtalk. DLF Phase 1 SHO Sanjeev Kumar, the investigating officer, said Shefali has been sent to judicial custody. We collected sufficient evidence against Shefali before arresting her, he said, adding she had been booked under sections 120B (conspiracy) and 201 (destroying evidence) of the IPC. Vikram and Shefali who were both married to their college crushes had decided the only way for them to be together was by getting a divorce, police said. Shefali convinced her husband to agree to a divorce but Vikram dithered. Shefali then began to egg on Vikram to eliminate his wife, investigators said. A plan was hatched to push Deepika from a height, knowing she had acrophobia. A senior police official said the two stored pictures and videos of their intimate acts on the common mail account. Among the exchanges found on the email and chats were details of a five-day package tour of Leh and Ladakh that Vikram and Shefali undertook in April 2018 as husband and wife. On their return, they decided to seek divorce from their respective spouses. Vikram asked Deepika for divorce in May. She refused and engaged her in-laws to mediate. To counter the pressure from his parents, Vikram started levelling allegations of infidelity against Deepika. In one of the emails sent to Vikram, Shefali wrote, Leaving ka matlab kya (What do you mean by leaving)? Either you divorce her or kill her then only she will not be your wife. She also taunted Vikram, calling him a loser for not getting rid of his wife. Extensive planning followed, after which, on October 24, Vikram took Deepika to Nainital on vacation hoping to push her off from a hill and call it an accident, police said. The email exchanges reveal Deepika may have sensed something wrong and refused to go sightseeing and returned to Gurugram after two days. In an email to Shefali, Vikram wrote, She is not going to edge and cancelling sightseeing plans. In response, Shefali wrote, Even if takes 10 days, stay there but dont return with her.
A day after returning from Nainital, Shefali and Vikram again started planning to push Deepika from the balcony, and even drew a map to execute their plan, police said. Hours before the incident, the two were talking to each other on Gtalk. At around 7.40pm, two hours before the murder, Shefali wrote: Balcony se phek do kamini ko (Throw the rascal from the balcony). Vikram replied: I want to badly right now ..she is shouting. At around 9.30pm, Vikrams parents, who had come to mediate, left. At around 9.37pm, Vikram allegedly pushed Deepika from the balcony, but when she clung to its railing, he forcibly unlocked her grip and pushed her down, police said. Afterwards, he broke some flower pots in the balcony to make it appear as suicide.