Missing Uzbek woman murdered, man arrested in Delhi

New Delhi: An Uzbek woman, who went missing from South Extension area here around seven weeks ago, was later found murdered and a 30-year-old man has been arrested in this connection, police said on Monday.

The other accused in the case, identified as another Uzbek woman, who was a close associate of the 28-year-old victim, is still at large, said a senior official.

The man, arrested yesterday from his residence at Kailash Colony in southeast Delhi, has been identified as Gagan alias Gurvinder.

He allegedly misled the police for weeks after he was questioned for the first time, said Joint Commissioner of Police (Southeast range) R S Krishnia.

Gagan and the accused woman, so far identified as one Naaz, allegedly abducted the Uzbek woman on September 24 and strangled her to death in a car.

They drove the vehicle to a village in the outskirts of Samalkha town in Haryana's Panipat district. There they allegedly dumped the body in an open field and set it on fire, said an official privy to the investigation.

The police said that it is suspected to be case of personal rivalry, but did not disclose further details about the motive behind the alleged murder.

The woman, who was living here on a tourist Visa, was residing at a house rented by a friend at south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area.

Initially her friends and relatives assumed that she must have left for somewhere without informing.

But when she could not be reached for more than 24 hours and later when her phone was found switched off, the matter was reported to the police on October 26 and a missing complaint was registered, said a senior police official.

In a few days, her mother -- who claimed that she was talking to her daughter over phone when she was abducted -- reported the matter to the police and a case of abduction was registered, said the official.

The Uzbek woman's relatives alleged that the police took a long time to register an FIR regarding the matter.

The police, however, maintained that the case was registered as soon as an official complaint alleging abduction was received from the party.