‘Revenge, lust, robbery were the motives’

PANAJI: Goa DIG Vimal Gupta said police have clinching evidence in the Monika Ghurde murder case as suspect Rajkumar Singh, a former security guard, had shaved at her flat.
“We have recovered hair from the spot,” Gupta said, adding that a DNA analysis would be conducted.
Goa police also ruled out the involvement of any other person in the crime. Initially, the police was working on two suspects following CCTV footage they obtained from an ATM at Porvorim.Goa police said that revenge, lust and robbery were the motives behind the crime.
A local court on Tuesday remanded Singh, 21, a native of Bathinda, Punjab, to six days police custody. He had been working as a security guard at Sapana Raj Valley, Sangolda, where Ghurde’s body was found naked with her hands tied to the bed.
Speaking to reporters, Gupta said, “After Singh raped Ghurde, he must have realized that she knows him very well and would complain. Hence, he suffocated her by pressing her neck and smothering her with a pillow till she died.”
Singh, who completed his first year BCom through open school in Haryana, came to Goa on April 5 this year and joined a security group. He later left the job and joined another security agency, which posted him at Sapana Raj Valley, the DIG said.
On July 22, Singh was removed from the job based on complaints from residents, including Ghurde. Gupta said Singh had linked Ghurde’s complaint to his termination. Her missing umbrella was also found in his possession. Singh’s employer refused to pay him two months’ salary totalling 20,000.
“He was angry not only with the employer but also with Ghurde,” Gupta said. Singh subsequently worked as a labourer at Ponda and, on two occasions, visited Ghurde to pressurize her to take back her complaint, so that he could get his job back. He later went out of Goa in search of a job.
“As Singh was without a job and money, he diverted his anger and frustration towards Ghurde and planned the crime,” Gupta added.
The DIG said Singh returned to the state on October 2 and on October 3, he entered the complex through the main gate during the day and not through the rear fence as was suspected earlier. He came with the intention of recovering his payment for washing the cars of residents who had employed him. At the time, he went to the terrace of Ghurde’s building and hid there for three days and two nights.
Gupta said nobody noticed him getting into the complex. Singh entered Ghurde’s flat on October 5 at around 6.30pm and left the complex on October 6 at 3.30am. On the same night at about 11.30, Ghurde’s body was found, after the neighbour opened the flat on the request of Ghurde’s brother.
Police said while he was hiding on the terrace, he would come down often to check if Ghurde’s car was there.