Times of India
MUMBAI, Oct 23: Two young men, who were allegedly involved in the murder of a television actress at Goregaon seven months ago, were arrested by the crime branch on Monday.
One of the accused, Sunil Singh, worked as a domestic help at the actress’s place. The motive behind the murder was reportedly robbery.
Manisha Agarwal (23), who had worked in tele-serials and done some modelling assignments, lived alone at Flat 1101 at Dheeraj Residency , Goregaon (W) and she became an easy target of Sunil and his accomplice, Amar Singh . After murdering her, the two found only Rs 1,500 in cash and a gold ring, which they reportedly pawned for Rs 4,500. After that, they reportedly fled to Bihar and later to Delhi, looking for job. However , on October 20, the two came back to the city where they were arrested from the Bandra terminus while they were attempting to escape on learning that the Mumbai police were close on their heels.
Originally a resident of Dombivli, Manisha started off by selling vegetables, the police said. A buyer helped her get a job in a beauty parlour. In 2005, Manisha won a beauty contest, Miss Dombivli, after which, there was no looking back for her. She starred in tele-serials like Sonpari, Bhabhi, Sabse Bada Rupaiya and one in Marathi called Uchapati. Soon, she moved to the plush Dheeraj Residency complex. Since she worked late, Manisha couldn’t interact much with her neighbours , the police said.
“On April 14, the Goregaon police received a call from residents that a stench was coming from Manisha’s flat. On breaking open the door, her decomposed body was found in the toilet,’’ said joint commissioner (crime) Rakesh Maria.
During interrogations, Sunil and Amar—both hailing from Darbhanga, Bihar—said they had plotted the murder on April 8. On April 11, Amar came to Manisha’s place while she was asleep. Around 6.30 am, when Manisha woke up, the two attacked her. “While Sunil caught her legs, Amar smothered her. When she struggled, they banged her head on the floor and killed her. Then they dragged her body to the toilet,’’ Maria added.