Ghaziabad murder: Tenants strangled landlady, smash head with pressure cooker lid after rent dispute

Ghaziabad (UP), Dec 19 (PTI) Two days after a couple allegedly killed their landlady and stuffed the body in a red suitcase in Ghaziabad, chilling details of the murder and the motive behind it emerged on Friday.

According to police, the accused, Akriti Gupta (33), strangled the woman with a scarf after a heated argument over unpaid rent, while her husband, Ajay Gupta (35), struck on her head with a pressure cooker lid.

The incident occurred around 8 pm on Wednesday when Deepshikha Sharma (48) had gone to the couple's house in Aura Chimera Society in Rajnagar Extension, to collect five months of pending rent.

A heated argument ensued, during which she allegedly bit Ajay Gupta in self-defence.

In retaliation, Akriti strangled her with a scarf and Ajay struck her on the head with a pressure cooker lid, resulting in her death on the spot, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Nandgram Upasna Pandey said.

The couple then stuffed her body in a red suitcase and concealed it in the storage box of a double bed, the ACP said.

When Deepshikha did not return home till late night, her domestic help, Minni, went to the tenants' flat to check on her. Growing suspicious, she searched the flat and discovered the suitcase containing the body.

She then alerted police at around 11.15 pm, following which a police team reached the spot and arrested the couple. The body was sent for a post-mortem.

On Thursday, Ajay Gupta and Akriti Gupta were produced before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, which remanded them to 14 days' judicial custody, the ACP added.

Deepshikha and her husband, Umesh Sharma, have two flats in their society. One of the flats was rented out to the accused a year ago. PTI COR CDN HIG