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A day after 61-year-old Supreme Court lawyer Renu Sinha was found dead at her house in Noida's Sector 30, the Noida Police on Monday, 11 September, arrested her husband Nitin Sinha in connection with the case.
Nitin, who was earlier declared missing, was apprehended from the storeroom of their house during a second search operation conducted by the police.
He allegedly asphyxiated Renu using a pillow and killed her on Sunday, 10 September, after which he hid her body in the bathroom, as per the police.
A First Information Report (FIR) under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been filed at the Noida Sector 20 police station, DCP Noida Harish Chandra told reporters.
The police claimed that the couple had been arguing about selling their house.
'Showed House to Property Dealer After Killing Wife': Police
The police claimed that after allegedly killing his wife, Nitin showed the house to a property dealer in a bid to sell it.
"The accused – Nitin Sinha – had allegedly made a deal to sell the house for Rs 4.5 crore and had even taken an advance of Rs 55 lakh. But Renu did not agree to sell it," DCP Chandra said. He added that the police have recovered Renu's mobile phone, his mobile phone, and passport from Nitin.
Nitin was allegedly planning to abscond to the United Kingdom and has a British passport. A Look Out Circular (LOC) was also issued by the police.
The accused had taken voluntary retirement and was an employee of the Indian Information Services (IIS), the police said.
'Found Renu's Body on the Bathroom Floor': Cops
The police said that the victim's brother Ajay Kumar had called them, complaining that Renu had not been answering her phone for two days. Kumar accused Nitin of killing his sister.
According to DCP Harish Chandra, when the police reached the victim's house in Sector 30, the doors were closed from the inside.
"When we broke open the doors to enter the house, we found Renu lying on her bathroom floor. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination," DCP Chandra said.
He added that Renu was allegedly battling cancer and had recovered only last month. The couple has a son, who is abroad.
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