30-year-old woman shot dead by assailants at her home in Greater Noida

The deceased woman’s husband said he suspected that his wife’s former husband was involved in the murder

A 30-year-old woman was allegedly shot dead at her home in a village of Greater Noida on Tuesday afternoon by unidentified men who arrived on a motorcycle, police said.

The police at the woman’s residence on Tuesday. The incident took place around 2.30pm in the Brij Vihar colony in Chhapraula village under Badalpur police station limits. (HT Photo)

The incident took place around 2.30pm in the Brij Vihar colony in Chhapraula village under Badalpur police station limits in Central Noida zone, they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Suniti said the deceased has been identified as Soni, a native of Bihar who was residing in Chhapraula village for the past six months with her husband, Mausam Kumar, a 10-year-old daughter and 25-year-old brother Vishal. This was her second marriage and Soni had a dispute with her former husband, the DCP said.

“We received information about the incident around 2.40pm from a local hospital in the area, which reported that a woman was brought dead with gunshot wounds. Immediately, a team from Badalpur police station along with senior officers rushed to the spot.

During our investigation, it was found that two men on a motorbike arrived at the woman’s house and fled after shooting her,” said the DCP.

Investigators said three bullet cartridges were recovered from the spot and locals told police that they heard three gunshots.

The woman’s husband works at the regional transport office (RTO) in Noida and was at work when the incident happened.

Mausam Kumar said, “Two strangers rang our doorbell and my wife opened the door. They asked her about me after which she called me around 2.30pm and asked me to speak to them over phone. I could not recognise their voice and so I asked them to return in the evening when I would be back from work. Then my wife took the phone but suddenly I heard gun shots over the call.”

The woman’s brother was at home at the time and he rushed her to the hospital where she was declared dead on arrival, Kumar said.

“I have suspicions on my wife’s former husband Vinod and have lodged a complaint with the local police. He had been troubling my wife recently,” said Kumar, adding that Soni’s daughter from her first marriage lived with them.

According to the DCP, Soni and Kumar started living together around a year ago. “As per preliminary information, Soni got married to Vinod around 10 years ago but left him as he used to beat her. Since the last one year, the woman had been living with Kumar. The woman had a daughter from her first husband and the child is currently living with her,” Suniti said, adding that while the police cannot verify whether Kumar and Soni are legally married,

Kumar has refereed to Soni as his wife in the complaint submitted to the police.

“The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination and further investigation is underway. A case under relevant sections is being registered on the basis of the complaint and teams are scanning the CCTV footage of the area to identify the suspects,” Suniti said.