The house had been ransacked and cash and jewellery stolen. An unconscious Rakesh was found bound and gagged in the house. He later told the police that the assailants had entered the house at around 12.30 p.m. posing as telephone repairmen. Anita Arora was alone in the house with Rakesh. Her husband, Anil Arora, was at his Nai Sarak shop and their two sons away to Vaishnodevi. Anil has alleged that Rakesh and his cousin are involved in the murder. He said that Rakesh's cousin had visited the house on many occasions. DCP (north-west) Satyendra Garg said that a police team had been sent to Nivada in Bihar to look for the cousin.

While Rakesh has given a statement to the police, he has not been questioned in detail because of his injuries. ``He hasnot yet fully recovered and we are yet to question him on the various inconsistencies in his statement to the police,'' said Garg. He cited the fact that according to Rakesh's statement, the incident occurred at 12.30 p.m. but he was still unconscious almost six hours later when the neighbour discovered Anita Arora's body. The fact that the assailants introduced themselves as phone repairmen shows that they were familiar with the fact that the phone in the house was out of order and a complaint had been lodged.

Meanwhile, police admit that the Saraswati Vihar murder case, in which a shopkeeper Kirti Shah was shot dead on Thursday night, is more difficult to crack. ``There are far more possibilities in this case,'' said Garg. Kirti Shah's body was found close to his house with a bullet injury through the temple. He was returning to his house from his shop in Bhagirath Palace in his car when the incident happened. His car was later found abandoned in Peeragarhi with a suitcase containing a large amount of money untouched, making the theory that robbery could have been the motive seem improbable.