KANPUR: Police probing the murder of pharmaceutical businessman Vineet Minocha have found that his daughter-in-law Shalu and former domestic help Vishal Gautam were in frequent contact before the killing.Call records showed Shalu, her husband Subrat and Gautam spoke 330 times in the 21 days before the murder — around 30 calls involved Shalu and nearly 300 involved Subrat. On the day of the murder, Shalu and Gautam spoke 14 times.Investigators also recovered WhatsApp call records between Shalu and Gautam, despite Gautam allegedly deleting their chats.Police suspect Shalu had been planning the murder for around three months and had gradually developed a rapport with Gautam, complimenting him and asking about his relationship status.Police allege Shalu hired Gautam for Rs 6 lakh over a dispute involving CCTV cameras installed by Minocha at their apartment. She allegedly gave him the original key to get a duplicate made and informed him when she, her husband and son would be away.Gautam allegedly brought in Raj Kishore, 30, and the two entered the flat on September 5 after being identified to security as medicine delivery men.The duo allegedly hid in a bedroom and planned to suffocate Minocha so his death would appear to be from a heart attack. However, when Minocha returned around 10.55pm and discovered them, they allegedly attacked him.Police said he was stabbed repeatedly and his throat was slit before the accused fled. The postmortem found 26 stab wounds.CCTV footage and call records helped police reconstruct the alleged conspiracy. Gautam and Kishore were arrested after an encounter on September 6, while Shalu was arrested the following night and sent to judicial custody. Police are still examining Subrat’s role in the alleged conspiracy.The family said Shalu’s five-year-old son has become withdrawn since her arrest. He is eating poorly, sleeping badly and often wakes up frightened, calling for his mother. He also asks relatives when she will return and where his grandfather has gone.According to the family, the boy was close to Minocha, who had gifted him a bike on his last birthday.
