Perfumer murder case: Accused remanded in 7-day police custody

A Goa court on Tuesday remanded Rajkumar Singh, accused of murdering 39-year-old perfume specialist Monica Ghurde, in seven days police custody. Singh (21), who hails of Punjab, was arrested in Bengaluru and brought to Goa on transit remand last night.

“The accused was produced before Judicial Magistrate First Class, Mapusa, who remanded him in seven days police custody,” police inspector Rajesh Kumar said. Singh, originally a native of Bhatinda in Punjab, became the main suspect after he withdrew cash from an ATM machine in Porvorim, just 5 kms from the scene of the crime, on the morning of October 6.

The perfume specialist was found murdered in her flat near here, following which the Goa police had tracked down the alleged killer and arrested him from a hotel in Bengaluru. Ghurde was found strangulated to death in her three-bedroom rented apartment in Sangolda village near here.

The naked body was recovered on October 6, but investigation revealed she was killed a day earlier. Singh had stolen two ATM cards of Ghurde besides her mobile phone, and transactions made through them helped the police to track him.