Cops scanned CCTV footage of over 50 hotels to nab major

New Delhi: Sixty policemen were involved in the over five hour-long operation to arrest Army Major Nikhil Handa, who murdered a colleague's wife in Delhi Cantonment area on Saturday. Cops also scoured through CCTV footage of more than 50 hotels and guest houses in the area connecting to Meerut.

Meanwhile, a court here on Monday sent Handa to four-day police custody. Handa will now be taken to Meerut, Uttar Pradesh for recover evidence, including his clothes and the weapon used for the murder.

Investigators on Monday said that the murder was pre-planned and since his arrest, Handa has not cooperated as he has been misleading them with wrong information.

"Several questions regarding the evidence, relating to the weapon murder and Handa's clothes were asked. But he is changing his statement repeatedly on where he dumped these things," said an investigator.

The law enforcement agency claimed that during investigation, it came to light that the woman was murdered with a knife and not mowed down by a vehicle, as suspected initiatlly.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Vijay Kumar said that to nab Handa, police teams were deployed on four different roads connecting to Lucknow, Meerut, National Highway-8 and DND flyover.

"The accused had only used WhatsApp on his phone in New Delhi after the murder and then he switched off the device," said the DCP.

On early Sunday morning, cops started searching hotels and guest houses on the highway to check if the accused was staying here. In Meerut, the police team visited an Army guest house in the Cantonment area, where the accused was staying. As soon as he came out, the police team waiting outside nabbed Handa.

"He was posted earlier in Meerut and had thought it is the most comfortable place to hide and make a plan to escape to another place," said the police officer.

When asked whether the accused had told his family about the incident, an investigator refused and said that Handa had met his family on Saturday, after which he fled.

His family members were also questioned in this regard.

"After killing the woman, Handa broke her phone and threw it away. It was recovered from Delhi and the IMEI was checked for the confirmation," said the DCP.