The Gamdevi police said they are still questioning Monica Jagtap (18) whose employer Lajwanti Chugani (62) was killed by two unidentified persons at her sixth floor residence in Sukhmani Building near Warden Road. According to Senior Police Inspector Narayan Dumbare: “We are questioning the maid who has been residing with the victim in her flat for the past three years. According to a statement given by her, the victim returned from her visit to a temple around 7 pm when two men barged in after her and threatening her (the maid) with a knife, tied her up and then assaulted Chugani and tied her up before committing the robbery. So far, the total amount of property stolen is Rs 86,000 comprising cash and diamond and gold jewellery.”

Dumbare said security in the building was clearly lax, a factor that assisted the killers. “The building security cabin has facilities for registering the names of people who enter the building premises. But while conducting enquiries, we discovered that the register did not have entries for any visitor after 4 pm that evening, whereas the murder took place around 7 pm,” he said.

Bandra resident Jitendra Soni (78), Chugani’s brother-in-law and her only relative in Mumbai, said an insider might be involved. “The theory that the robbers must have entered the house right after Lajwanti seems implausible since there was the prasad found in the kitchen, which she had obviously brought from the temple,” said Soni. Further, according to Jitendra, the maid’s

father Rajaram, a rickshaw driver in Jogeshwari, was in the habit of borrowing money from Chugani, which she would then deduct from the maid’s salary. “There is surely more than what meets the eye,” he said.

The police agree that it’s puzzling how the two robbers gained entry into the building and then into the flat. “The liftman, who has been working there for 30 years, said he did not ferry upstairs anyone resembling the two men, whose description has been provided by the servant. Further, even the security guards do not seem to remember seeing the two men,” said Dumbare. “We are also probing the angle of any disgruntled former security person.”

The medical report says there were mild strangulation marks on Chugani’s neck and also marks of a fist blow on her face. According to Dumbare, the robbers may not have intended to kill her.