A shocking incident of home invasion, robbery, and murder has resulted in the apprehension of four individuals, including a minor domestic worker, in the Ashiyana police station jurisdiction of Lucknow. The suspects were taken into custody following the death of 65-year-old Neera Gupta. Authorities recovered stolen jewellery valued at 50 lakh rupees and 38,000 rupees in cash during the operation. All four individuals confessed to their roles in the crime during interrogation, after which three adult suspects were remanded to judicial custody, while the minor was formally detained under juvenile justice procedures.
The Conspiracy Orchestrated by Former Domestic Help
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, DCP Central Arpit Vijayvargiya shared operational findings regarding how the criminal plan was conceived and executed. Investigators found that the central plot was crafted by Moni Rawat, a resident of Khairakanku in the Loni Katra area of Barabanki. Moni had worked at Neera Gupta's residence as a domestic worker about a year prior, during which she gained intimate knowledge of the home layout, storage compartments, and where valuables and cash were kept.
Moni was also well aware that the 65-year-old victim lived completely by herself in the house, as both of her sons reside abroad in America. Taking advantage of this isolation, she coordinated with acquaintances to execute a large-scale burglary. As part of this elaborate scheme, Moni introduced a minor girl to work as a domestic helper at Gupta's house merely seven days before the incident. The minor was instructed to spike Gupta's nighttime beverage with sedatives so that the group could carry out the theft without physical interference.
Spiked Milk and Violent Escalation During Resistance
Following the prearranged scheme, the minor domestic worker mixed an intoxicating substance into Neera Gupta's glass of milk, causing the elderly woman to lose consciousness shortly after consuming it. Once she was incapacitated, the conspirators gained access to the house and began scouring the premises for valuables. To avoid leaving forensic traces and fingerprints, all individuals wore protective gloves throughout the act. However, the sedative wore off prematurely, and Gupta regained consciousness in the middle of the break-in.
Upon realising that intruders were ransacking her house, Gupta actively resisted the perpetrators. The intrusion turned violent as Ravi Prakash Rawat, a resident of Akerhut in Nagram, smothered Gupta's face with a pillow to stifle her cries for help. Concurrently, Moni Rawat throttled her neck. To overpower her completely, the minor domestic worker seized a heavy mortar pestle from the house and struck Gupta's head, inflicting catastrophic injuries that led to her immediate death on the floor.
Discovery of the Crime and Swift Police Crackdown
After inflicting fatal injuries, the culprits fled the scene carrying 50 lakh rupees worth of ornaments along with 38,000 rupees in cash. The crime came to light shortly after, when the victim's niece, Shweta, placed multiple phone calls to Gupta's mobile phone. Receiving no response despite repeated attempts, Shweta alerted her cousin Anubhav, explaining that their aunt was not answering calls.
Anubhav rushed to Gupta's residence in Ashiyana and found that the main entrance was locked from the inside with no movement visible. He immediately contacted the police control room. Responding police officers forced open the door, discovering Gupta's body lying motionless on the floor. Following the discovery, law enforcement constituted four distinct operational units to investigate the homicide. Technical surveillance and phone data analyses quickly pointed toward the suspicious conduct of the new domestic worker hired seven days earlier. Acting on actionable intelligence, police apprehended Moni Rawat, Ravi Prakash Rawat, and Sarita Rawat, a resident of Sukhlal Kheda in Nagram, while placing the minor in detention.
