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Monika's killer caught thanks to his Facebook selfie post from Bengaluru

  • The former security guard posted a selfie on Facebook in Bengaluru.
  • Goan police initially traced him to Bengaluru through ATM transactions.
Bengaluru selfie nabbed Monika Ghurdes killer

Former security guard Rajkumar Singh, who is accused of brutally raped and murdered well-known perfumer Monika Ghurde in her North Goa flat, was caught in Bengaluru, thanks to his brazen confidence - despite the horrific crimes he has been accused of. 


Monia was found dead on Wednesday, October 5, and Rajkumar fled Goa the next day. Goa police, who were already trying to trace him through his cell-phone (which was switched off), zeroed in on him after he used Monika's debit card to withdraw ₹50,000 in Bengaluru. 


As he later told police, he tied Monika to her bed and forced her to reveal the PIN to her card and the password to her mobile phone, before eventually raping her and smothering her to death. 


However, in a city like Bengaluru, with its millions of residents, it would have proven very hard to find one suspect. 


However, the cops were helped by Rajkumar's own vanity. Whatever his crime, he felt comfortable enough to click a selfie of himself apparently enjoying the good life in Bengaluru. Goa police, which had been tracking his Facebook account as well, figured out that the picture was taken in Basavanagudi and notified the Bengaluru cops. 


The city police launched a massive manhunt before eventually nabbing Rajkumar in Cottenpet. Rajkumar reportedly confessed his crimes and gave police a detailed explanation on how he committed the deed. 


Singh, a 21-year-old native of Punjab who worked as a security guard in Panaji, was brought to Goa on transit remand on Monday night. The accused was produced in a court at Mapusa town on Tuesday, which remanded him to seven-day police custody. 


"The accused has confessed to the crime. He has told the Investigating Officer that for two days he hid on the terrace of the building where Monika lived before forcibly entering her flat on October 5 evening," Deputy Inspector General of Police Vimal Gupta told reporters at police headquarters.


Singh, during interrogation, narrated how he tortured Monika throughout the night before strangling her to death. He even tied the victim to a bed and went to the kitchen, where he had boiled eggs for dinner. Gupta said the accused arrived in Goa on April 5, 2016, in search of a job and was employed as a security guard in the compound, where Monica came searching for a rented flat.


"The accused was attracted towards Monika since the day she inquired about the availability of a flat in the compound and later followed her movements when she started residing there. After his duty as a security guard, he would wash cars of the residents, including that of Monica," the DIG said.

 
Gupta, who interrogated Singh at Saligao police station in the presence of Superintendent of Police (North) Umesh Gaonkar in the morning, said the accused developed a grudge against Monika after he was sacked from the job on July 22, 2016, after being accused of stealing her umbrella.


"The security agency, which had employed him, kept on hold his two months' salary amounting to Rs 22,000," the IPS officer said. "After losing his job, Singh worked as a labourer in Ponda town for some time before visiting places like Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai in search of employment but was unsuccessful," Gupta said.


During this time, the accused contacted Monika and requested her to tell the security agency to release his salary. She, however, refused to do so. Overcome by anger and sense of revenge over what he perceived as humiliation by the perfumer for his loss of job, Singh went to her residential complex on October 3. He spent two days on her building's terrace looking for an opportunity to get inside her flat and finally succeeded on October 5 at around 6.30 PM, the DIG said.


Gupta said the accused had a scuffle with Monika in the bathroom. He then overpowered and tied her to bed and sexually abused her. Fearing Monika will complain to the police, Singh smothered the perfumer to death after forcing her to reveal the PINs of her ATM cards and the password of her mobile phone. The DIG said the woman screamed for help several times during her captivity, but no one from the complex could hear it.

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