Ex-model Divya Pahuja’s body found in Haryana’s Bhakra canal: Police

Gurugram: Gurugram police on Saturday said they found the body of Divya Pahuja – an ex-model who was shot dead at a city hotel last week – from the Bhakra canal near Fatehabad in Haryana.

Vijay Pratap Singh, deputy commissioner of police (DCP crime), said that their two teams were deployed on the stretch and the body travelled around 150 kilometres and was found in Bhakra canal near Fatehabad.

The body was thrown on January 3, a day after she was killed, Singh said. Police based their information on disclosures made by Balraj Gill, one of the men who allegedly disposed of her body.

Following the information received, a search operation was launched on Friday with 42 divers and the body was found 10.30am, the DCP said.

Police said that the body had not decomposed due to cold and it would be sent for postmortem at the Fatehabad Civil Hospital later in the day.

The family members of Pahuja have identified the body with the help of the two tattoos – one on her shoulder and another on her lower back, police said.

Naina Pahuja, sister of the deceased said that they were on their way to reach the spot and had received pictures from the police and identified the body. “We will try to cremate the body today after the postmortem. We will bring her body to Gurugram,” she said.

Police said they had formed six teams who were conducting search operations in a 200-kilometre area near Patiala.

The development came a day after Gill was apprehended at the Kolkata airport while flying to New Delhi. A Gurugram police team on Friday obtained his transit remand from a Kolkata court, and the police and the suspect reached Gurugram after he was taken on a three-day transit remand.

Pahuja, 27, an accused in the alleged fake encounter of dreaded gangster Sandeep Gadoli, was out on bail after spending seven years in prison when she was killed on January 2. Police said she was allegedly blackmailing Abhijeet Singh, a hotel owner in the city, who purportedly shot her dead at one of his properties. Police arrested Abhijeet and three others in connection with the case.

However, two of his associates — Gill and Ravi Bandra — fled Gurugram with the body in a blue BMW sedan. Police found the vehicle from Patiala on January 4.