New Delhi: A 27-year-old model, Divya Pahuja, was shot dead by a hotel owner in Gurugram, Haryana, over a dispute regarding her phone password. The hotel owner, Abhijeet Singh, and his two associates then tried to dispose of her body in a BMW car but were caught by the police. Divya Pahuja was a former girlfriend of gangster Sandeep Gadoli, who was killed in a police encounter in Mumbai in 2016.
The murder
The murder took place on January 2, 2024, at Hotel City Point in Gurugram, where Divya Pahuja had gone with Abhijeet Singh, who was her friend. Abhijeet Singh wanted to delete some obscene photos of himself from Divya’s phone, but she refused to give him the password. In a fit of rage, Abhijeet Singh shot Divya Pahuja in the head and killed her.
He then called two of his hotel staff, Hemraj, and Om Prakash, and asked them to help him get rid of the body. They wrapped the body in a blanket and put it in the trunk of a blue BMW car, which belonged to Abhijeet Singh. Abhijeet Singh then contacted two other accomplices, Prakash and Indraj, and offered them Rs 10 lakh to dump the body somewhere.
The arrest
However, the police got a tip-off about the murder and intercepted the car near the Delhi-Gurugram border. They found the body of Divya Pahuja in the trunk and arrested Prakash and Indraj. They also traced Abhijeet Singh, Hemraj, and Om Prakash to the hotel and arrested them. The police recovered the murder weapon, a country-made pistol, from Abhijeet Singh.
The police also seized the CCTV footage from the hotel, which showed the entire sequence of events. The footage showed Abhijeet Singh and Divya Pahuja entering the hotel room, Abhijeet Singh shooting Divya Pahuja, and the three men carrying the body to the car.
The background
Divya Pahuja was a resident of Baldev Nagar, Gurugram. She had studied B.Com and had taken up modeling as a career. She was also involved in a relationship with gangster Sandeep Gadoli, who was the leader of the Gurgaon gang and had several cases of murder, extortion, and robbery against him.
Sandeep Gadoli was killed in a police encounter in a hotel in Mumbai on February 7, 2016. Divya Pahuja was with him then and was arrested as an accused. She spent seven years in jail and was released in 2023. Her mother, Sonia Pahuja, was also arrested for allegedly conspiring with Sandeep Gadoli and his gang.
Divya Pahuja’s father, Rajesh Pahuja, is disabled and runs a small business selling vegetables, fruits, and eggs. He has a younger daughter, who is studying in school. He said that he was unaware of Divya’s activities and was shocked by her murder. He said he had no contact with her since she was arrested in 2016.
