Asked to surrender, Jogeshwari high rise murder accused Hina Khanna absconds

Representational Picture

After arresting Jogeshwari resident Nitin Khanna on Wednesday on the charge of abetting his maid Jyoti Patekar's suicide, the Meghwadi police issued a notice to his wife Hina and asked her to be present at the police station on Thursday morning. She, however, absconded.

Sources said a team was sent to her home at Oberoi Splender on the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road in the morning, but she wasn't there. The cops have launched a search. Saying the police hadn't communicated anything about the probe after an FIR was filed, Jyoti's mother Archana said, "I have lost my daughter. She had not been paid her salary for three months. Our financial condition is poor. Looking at the situation, even my husband and I feel like committing suicide."

Rachna, a distant relative of Jyoti's, said about 30 people staged a protest outside the compound of Oberoi Splender on Thursday morning after Hina failed to surrender herself. "It seems the police gave her an opportunity to escape," she said. Another relative, Sandeep Patekar, said, "We don't understand how the cops failed to arrest Hina." DCP N D Reddy said, "Nitin was arrested based on available evidence. The other maid supports the statement given by Jyoti's parents. We are on the lookout for Hina now."

Also Read: Mumbai: Employer arrested for 19-yr-old maid's suicide from posh Jogeshwari high rise

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