The tv was nonetheless taking part in inside Kritika Chaudhary’s Mumbai residence. The air conditioner was operating. The entrance door had been locked from the skin.
Kritika had not been seen for days.
By the point her neighbours seen the scent, the 27-year-old actor was already useless.
A Foul Scent Led Neighbours To Her Flat
It was round 3.45 pm on June 12, 2017, when residents of Shri Bhairavnath SRA Society in Andheri West alerted the police. A foul odour had begun spreading throughout the fifth flooring, apparently coming from flat quantity 503.
Kritika lived there alone. Her neighbours knew little about her past the occasional glimpse of her coming into or leaving the constructing. Now, they might hear a tv taking part in inside her locked residence.
Sub-Inspector Shrikant Jadhav and his workforce entered the residence and located Kritika’s decomposing physique on the mattress. She was wearing a nightgown and had suffered a extreme damage to her head.
Close to the physique was a blood-stained brass knuckle.
A white powder, suspected to be a drug, was additionally discovered contained in the flat. Kritika’s cell phone lay close to the mattress, nonetheless receiving calls from the relations who had been attempting to achieve her.
Kritika’s Household Had Been Attempting To Attain Her
Her brother, Deepak Chaudhary, had final spoken to her on June 8. After that, she stopped answering.
Kritika had celebrated her twenty seventh birthday shortly earlier than her demise. 4 days earlier than her physique was found, a former pal had despatched her a birthday message. There was no reply.
‘Kritika Died From Extreme Head Accidents’
The postmortem indicated that Kritika had died from extreme head accidents. In response to the police investigation, she had been struck 3 times.
However whoever had killed her appeared to have tried to purchase time.
The tv and air conditioner had allegedly been left operating earlier than the killers walked out and locked the residence from the skin. Police believed this was meant to delay suspicion and gradual the decomposition of the physique.
Contained in the residence, investigators discovered one other necessary clue: a person’s shirt stained with Kritika’s blood.
The shirt would finally assist make them two males seen leaving the constructing across the time of the homicide.
Her Private Life Got here Below The Scanner
Kritika had come to Mumbai chasing a well-known dream. Initially from Haridwar, Uttarakhand, she had first moved to Delhi and labored for a cellphone community firm. She later married and shifted to Mumbai in 2011.
The wedding didn’t final.
In response to reviews, Kritika had met her future husband, Vijay Dwivedi, whereas working in Delhi and later found that he was already married. He reportedly divorced his first spouse and married Kritika, however the two finally separated after she allegedly found that he was dishonest on her.
Dwivedi was later arrested in an unrelated extortion case. Stories additionally linked him to alleged monetary fraud involving celebrities together with Shweta Tiwari and Govinda.
Six months earlier than Kritika’s demise, he had reportedly contacted her and requested to revive their relationship. She refused.
Police questioned him on June 23, however the path quickly moved elsewhere.
After her divorce, Kritika had pursued appearing and modelling extra critically. She appeared in tv reveals together with Parichay and Savdhaan India, labored in a number of Balaji productions and performed Kangana Ranaut’s sister within the 2013 movie Rajjo.
Her private life, nonetheless, had grow to be more and more troubled.
‘Kritika Tried Suicide A number of Instances’
A former pal advised The Quint that Kritika struggled with drug dependancy and had tried suicide a number of instances. The pal stated Kritika had slash marks on her wrists and had as soon as threatened to leap from the roof of her constructing whereas intoxicated.
The pal was exterior Mumbai on the time and despatched her brother to assist. By the point he arrived, a crowd had gathered beneath and the police had been referred to as. He managed to steer Kritika to step away from the sting and took her again to her flat.
The incident reportedly disturbed members of the housing society. Kritika later moved to a different residence, and the friendship between the 2 girls finally ended.
CCTV Footage Modified The Recreation
As investigators reconstructed Kritika’s last days, CCTV footage from her constructing supplied the primary main breakthrough. Two unidentified males had been recorded leaving her residence across the time she was believed to have been killed.
Her brother additionally advised police that a few of her jewelry and valuables seemed to be lacking.
Investigators started questioning folks and retailers in an try to hint the blood-stained shirt discovered contained in the flat. DNA recovered from it was additionally used through the search.
With the assistance of informants, police lastly tracked the 2 suspects to Panvel. They had been recognized as Shakeel Naseem, a Nalasopara resident, and Vasudev, who was from Govandi.
The lads had allegedly shifted areas after studying that the police had been on the lookout for them, first hiding in Malwani and later shifting to Panvel.
Their arrests produced a motive that surprised Kritika’s household.
The Rs 6,000 Debt
Police claimed she had been killed over Rs 6,000.
In response to investigators, Naseem was a drug seller who had provided medication to Kritika round a yr earlier. She allegedly owed him Rs 6,000 and had repeatedly delayed paying it again.
Naseem had additionally been arrested in one other case involving drug trafficking and automotive theft. After leaving jail, police stated, he wanted cash and started attempting to recuperate the debt.
Unable to contact Kritika instantly, he allegedly obtained her handle by way of acquaintances. When he first visited her, she requested him to return after a number of days. When he went again, she reportedly postponed the fee once more.
Dinner Turned Into An Argument
On June 8, police stated, Naseem returned to Kritika’s residence with Vasudev.
The go to didn’t instantly flip violent. In response to the investigation, the three spoke and even had dinner collectively.
Then an argument started.
Police alleged that Naseem attacked Kritika with the brass knuckles he had carried to the residence, placing her 3 times on the pinnacle. The accidents killed her.
Investigators stated Naseem had additionally introduced a change of garments. When Kritika’s blood stained his shirt, he allegedly eliminated it and left it behind. The lads then switched on the tv and air conditioner, locked the door from exterior and fled.
Kritika’s Household Questioned The Motive
But the Rs 6,000 idea by no means totally satisfied Kritika’s household.
Police had recovered Rs 22,000 in money from her residence and handed it over to them. Deepak questioned why his sister would danger her life over a debt she might apparently have paid instantly.
Kritika’s mom and brother travelled to Mumbai to gather her physique. Due to its situation, the household cremated her on the Andheri crematorium.
A Promising Profession Lower Brief
Earlier than her demise, Kritika had reportedly secured work as an assistant director on a tv serial. Her brother stated she had additionally spoken about making her directorial debut.
She had spent years preventing for small roles in an trade constructed on inconceivable breaks.
In the long run, the clue that helped expose what allegedly occurred to her was not hidden in an audition room or a movie set. It was mendacity inside her locked residence: a blood-stained shirt left behind by the lads police stated had killed her over Rs 6,000.
