Car used to get rid of ex-model Divya Pahuja found, body still missing

Two days after a 27-year-old woman — an accused in the alleged fake encounter of dreaded gangster Sandeep Gadoli — was shot dead at a Gurugram hotel room, police recovered a luxury car from Patiala in Punjab that was used to transport and dispose of the body, officials aware of the case said on Thursday.

The victim’s body, however, still remains missing, police confirmed.

Divya Pahuja, a resident of Baldev Nagar in Gurugram’s Sector-7, was out on bail after spending nearly seven years in custody in connection with Gadoli’s death. Police said she was murdered on Tuesday night by city-based hotelier Abhijeet Singh, 56, whom she had purportedly been blackmailing since her release.

Also read: Who was Divya Pahuja, who ‘honey trapped’ slain gangster, shot dead in Gurugram on Tuesday?

Police had on Wednesday arrested three people in connection with the murder — Singh, and his employees Hemraj, 28, who goes by a single name, and Om Prakash, 23.

On Thursday, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Vijay Pratap Singh said they have identified two more suspects — Balraj Gill and Ravi Bandra. “They were friends with the main suspect and were called by him to dispose of the body. They are still on the run,” the DCP said, adding that the Punjab police have recovered a blue BMW sedan that was used to transport and dispose of the body.

Patiala deputy superintendent of police Sukhamrit Singh Randhawa said the Gurugram police on Wednesday had intimated them to begin a search operation to trace the BMW — which bears Delhi registration numbers — after CCTV footages of various toll plazas indicated that car had entered Patiala district.

“Since Wednesday, we had been searching for the BMW car. We found it at the parking lot of the New Patiala Bus Stand,” Randhawa said.

The DSP added that the car did not contain Pahuja’s body but did have several bloodstains, and forensic teams have collected evidences, and the Gurugram police have been informed about the development.

According to police, Gadoli, who was charged with a string of murders, was shot dead at a hotel in Mumbai on February 6, 2016. However, the Mumbai Police alleged that jailed gangster Virendra Kumar alias Binder Gujjar conspired with Haryana Police personnel to eliminate Gadoli, who was lured into a trap with the help of Pahuja, Gadoli’s then girlfriend.

(With inputs from Leena Dhankhar)