Husband killed Priya Mehra, tried to 'cook up' story to mislead cops

New Delhi: The Delhi police on Thursday arrested Pankaj Mehra for murdering his wife Priya Mehra and later trying to mislead investigators by cooking up a story.

At first, Pankaj Mehra claimed that his wife was shot on the orders of a money-lender to whom he owes 40 lakh over a failed restaurant business. But it was CCTV from a petrol pump that exposed his lies.

He said that at 4:15 am, his wife was shot at by four men in another car. Mehra said the attackers overtook his car, blocked it and smashed a window open using a gun. He claimed he tried to fight off the attackers but they opened fire, missed him, and two bullets hit his wife instead, and that he then drove his wife to the hospital, where she was declared dead.

However, the CCTV footage did not show any car except for his at the place where the shooting took place, the police said. They said the gun that was used to kill Priya had not been found.

"The husband confessed to the crime when we confronted him with the fact that there is no CCTV footage of another white car trailing them. He was trying to mislead us as he kept on insisting that it was the money lender who was after him and he was the target of the attack," said Joint CP Northern Range, Rajesh Khurana.

Pankaj Mehra was driving home early in the morning in the heart of the capital after an outing with his wife and son. They had a meal near the famous Jama Masjid on Tuesday night after visiting one of the largest gurudwaras in Delhi. Then, Pankaj Mehra turned and shot his wife in the head twice, while their 2-year-old was in her lap.

The police claim that Pankaj Mehra, a businessman who was deep in debt, has confessed to this version of events during his interrogation today. He allegedly was secretly married to another woman.

"He killed his wife, Priya due to the mental agony of his strained relationship and the pressure to pay back loans which he had taken from several persons, whom he sought to frame for the murder of his wife. Pankaj was arrested within 24 hours of the murder, " said Joint CP Northern range Rajesh Khurana.