Ghaziabad,

19 Dec (HS): Police detained a couple for reportedly murdering their landlady

by strangling her with a scarf and beating her skull with a pressure cooker

lid, according to officials on Friday. According to authorities, the defendants

are Ajay Gupta (35), and his wife, Akriti Gupta (33). According to police, the

incident occurred at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, when Deepshikha Sharma (48) went to

the accused's residence in Aura Chimera Society in Rajnagar Extension to collect

five months' rent owed. Following a heated dispute, she reportedly bit Ajay

Gupta in self-defense. In reaction, Akriti strangled her with a scarf, and Ajay

hit her on the skull with a pressure cooker lid, killing her on the spot,

according to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Nandgram Upasna Pandey.

The

accused duo then packed her corpse into a red suitcase and hid it in a double

bed's storage box, according to the ACP. When Deepshikha did not return home

until late at night, Minni, her domestic assistant, went to the tenants' flat

to check on her. She became suspicious and investigated the flat, discovering

the suitcase containing the body. She then called police at approximately 11.15

p.m., and a squad of officers arrived and detained the duo. The body was

submitted for a post-mortem. Ajay Gupta and Akriti Gupta were presented before

the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court on Thursday, and they were remanded to 14

days in judicial detention, according to the ACP. Deepshikha and her husband,

Umesh Sharma, own two flats in their neighbourhood. One of the apartments was

rented out to the accused a year ago.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi