New Delhi:
A dentist couple was on their way to honeymoon but ended up in police net. Vinod Kumar (31), son of a head constable in UP Police, and Meenakshi (29) were arrested here on Sunday for allegedly attempting to murder her ex-boyfriend, Ravindra, a doctor.
Four alleged "contract killers" - Harish (21), Amit (21), Umesh (30) and Pawan (30) - were also apprehended for attacking Ravindra in front of Vardhaman Jain Hospital on April 27, Chhaya Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer), said, adding the couple had agreed to pay them Rs 2.5 lakh for the crime.
Kumar and Meenakshi were arrested while they were on their way to Nainital for their honeymoon on Sunday. They got married on Saturday.
It was a mobile phone used by one of the alleged contract killers during the commission of crime which helped police crack the case.
"One of the killers kept the phone call on hold at the time of firing so that the sound of the bullet fired could be heard by Vinod and Pawan. However, while fleeing from the spot, the phone fell down," Sharma said.
The first to be arrested was Pawan. "An amount of Rs 2.50 lakh had been settled for the killing. Rs 25,000 were paid by Vinod as advance 20-25 days ago," Sharma said.
Vinod told police that they had hatched the conspiracy for the murder of Ravindra who was earlier Meenakshi's boyfriend.
"Meenakshi became friendly with Vinod and wanted to marry him. She was also under pressure from Ravindra to marry him due to their friendship since their college days. Meenakshi wanted to get rid of Ravindra to marry Vinod.
"Both Vinod and Meenakshi decided to kill Ravindra and hired Arvind, Rameshwar, Kaushal and Pawan, all of who belonging to Aligarh," Sharma said.
This is not the first time that Vinod tried to allegedly kill Ravindra. He told police that on July 2009 and February 2010, he had, with the help of contract killers, tried to murder Ravindra but could not succeed.
Vinod is running his dental clinic in Shivpuri in Ghaziabad. He is also a visiting consultant to several dental clinics and hospitals in Vijay Nagar. Meenakshi runs a dental clinic from her house in New Vijay Nagar.