Bhopal, Police probing the murder of a retired IAS officer here have found that his caretaker, who is the prime suspect in the case, allegedly tried to set the victim’s house on fire by disconnecting a gas cylinder pipe and placing it near a hot iron before escaping from the spot following the killing.
Forensic teams found that Kumar attempted to trigger a fire using the gas pipe and an electric iron that he left switched on nearby before escaping. Kumar allegedly fled with the victim’s mobile phone. T T Nagar Assistant Commissioner of Police Ankita Khatarkar dismissed media reports claiming Kumar was arrested in Agra, stating that three to four police teams have fanned out across the state, primarily targeting railway stations to apprehend him.
The suspect, Varun Kumar , was hired through an agency just three days before the crime to take care of the 70-year-old former bureaucrat, Rakesh Agarwal, who was unwell, at his Suraj Nagar residence within the Ratibad police station limits. Investigators believe Agarwal, a 1982-batch Madhya Pradesh cadre officer, was attacked while asleep around midnight on Wednesday, as the crime scene showed no signs of a struggle. Investigators tracked his movements through CCTV footage and brief phone signals, spotting him riding a motorcycle with another person, boarding a train at Bhopal railway station at 4.12 am, and subsequently appearing at Bina railway station in Sagar district and Gwalior, police said.
Kumar is a native of Nabha in Punjab’s Patiala district. The victim, who served as a district collector and principal secretary during his career, is survived by his wife and a son living in the US. His funeral will take place on Saturday, his family sources said.
At around 1 am on Wednesday, Kumar was seen outside the couple’s sprawling 7,000-8,000 square feet residence, which lacked CCTV cameras.
Agarwal’s wife gave him medicine for some ailment around midnight, according to the sources familiar with the investigation.
