A 24-year-old law student allegedly orchestrated the murder of her own mother to gain control of family property and secure a government job, police said, claiming she paid Rs 7 lakh to contract killers who ran the victim over with a Scorpio SUV and tried to disguise the killing as a road accident.
The victim, 45-year-old Neeraj Sharma, a lower division clerk (LDC) in a Jaipur court, was killed on July 3 in Jaipur's Pratap Nagar area. Police have arrested seven people, including her daughter Ayushi Sharma, while another accused remains absconding.
Investigators claim the conspiracy was months in the making and involved close relatives, hired assailants, a failed murder attempt, extensive surveillance and a carefully planned execution that was ultimately exposed by CCTV footage.
According to police, the roots of the alleged conspiracy go back to the death of Neeraj's husband, Vijay Sharma, an LDC in a Jaipur court, about a year ago. Following his death, Neeraj received a compassionate appointment and joined government service.
Police said Ayushi wanted the job for herself. However, Neeraj's brother, who also worked in the court system, reportedly advised her to accept the appointment instead, arguing that she needed a stable source of income to support her family, including her mentally challenged teenage son.
Investigators believe the decision deepened an already existing dispute between mother and daughter over family property.
Neeraj had been living in Airport Colony with Ayushi and her son after the family shifted there around two-and-a-half years ago. Police said tensions over property had been simmering for years and worsened after Vijay Sharma's death.
According to investigators, Ayushi later moved to the family's old house in Kalyan Colony and enrolled in an LLB course along with her cousin Balram, the son of her paternal uncle Mohan Swaroop Sharma.
Police allege that it was during this period that Ayushi discussed eliminating her mother. Investigators claim she promised Balram a share of family land in return for helping execute the plan. According to police, the properties allegedly discussed included five bighas of land on Agra Road worth around Rs 5 crore and another four bighas in Bharatpur worth nearly Rs 5 crore.
Officials allege that Mohan Swaroop Sharma later became part of the conspiracy and helped connect the family with Bharatpur resident Hemant Sharma.
Police said the conspirators initially planned to make Neeraj's death look like a road accident.
About a month before the murder, Hemant allegedly attempted to run her over using a rented Thar SUV near her residence. Neeraj escaped unharmed but became suspicious.
According to investigators, she informed her brother about the incident, began restricting her movements and took additional security measures. Police said she installed protective mesh around her house and fitted four CCTV cameras outside the residence.
Officials further allege that when Neeraj stopped venturing out frequently, attempts were made to frighten her into leaving the house. These allegedly included throwing lemons, chillies and red-coloured substances around the residence.
Despite these precautions, investigators claim the conspirators continued tracking her movements and began planning another attempt.
According to police, Ayushi continued pushing for another attempt and Mohan Swaroop Sharma re-established contact with Hemant Sharma.
Investigators allege that Hemant demanded Rs 7 lakh to execute the murder.
Police claim he then rented a Haryana-registered Scorpio SUV from Bharatpur for Rs 35,000 and recruited Akash Sharma and Arvind Sharma to carry out the attack. Rohit Jatav and Mohit Sharma were allegedly assigned to monitor Neeraj's movements and relay her location.
On July 3, Neeraj had stepped out with her son and was returning home when the alleged conspirators put their plan into motion.
According to police, Ayushi called her mother and asked her to return home urgently on the pretext of important work.
Investigators allege that Rohit and Mohit tracked Neeraj's movements and passed on her location to those waiting nearby in the Scorpio.
As Neeraj walked along the edge of a road in Pratap Nagar, the SUV allegedly accelerated to nearly 130 kmph before deliberately ramming into her.
Police said the impact threw her body nearly 100 feet. She died on the spot, while the driver fled.
Initially, the incident appeared to be a fatal road accident.
However, police began examining CCTV footage from the area and soon found several inconsistencies.
According to investigators, the footage showed Neeraj walking along the extreme edge of an almost empty road, raising questions about how the vehicle struck her.
Additional footage allegedly showed a Scorpio waiting nearby before the collision, while two men were positioned separately along the route.
Police also found that individuals seen near the scene walked away immediately after the collision without attempting to help the victim and later left on a motorcycle.
The footage prompted investigators to treat the case as a possible murder rather than an accident.
Following the CCTV trail, police traced the damaged Scorpio. Investigators said the vehicle owner identified Hemant Sharma as the person who had rented it.
During questioning, Hemant allegedly named other members of the conspiracy.
Police said Neeraj's brother had already begun suspecting foul play.
He later told investigators that Neeraj had repeatedly complained about being harassed by Ayushi, members of her in-laws' family and her cousin over property disputes. He also claimed she had received threats in the past.
Investigators said Ayushi informed relatives after the incident that her mother had died in a road accident. Mohan Swaroop Sharma allegedly reached the spot soon afterwards and took the body to the family's native village in Rupwas.
Police teams later travelled to Rupwas, where Ayushi was present.
According to officials, she was brought to Jaipur for questioning after investigators gathered evidence linking multiple accused to the case.
Police claim that during interrogation, and after being confronted with evidence and statements from other accused, Ayushi admitted her role in the conspiracy.
When contacted by India Today TV, Ayushi declined to comment on the allegations against her.
Police have arrested Ayushi Sharma, Mohan Swaroop Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Akash Sharma, Arvind Sharma, Hemant Sharma and Rohit Jatav in connection with the case. Balram alias Ravi, whom investigators describe as a key conspirator, remains absconding.
Source: India Today