Niru's body -- with multiple wounds on her stomach and her neck -- was found on May 7 by her husband, Ravinder Jha, after he returned home around 6.30 p.m..

Preliminary investigations revealed that the nephew, Ajay Pathak, 19, and and an accomplice Vijay Kumar were involved in the incident. Although Vijay was accompanying Ravinder when he had gone to the market, Ajay was in the house when the incident is believed to have occurred.

Ajay, however, could not be traced when the police broke open the door of the house. He had been absconding till he was arrested.

The police arrested Ajay from his hideout from his native village last week. Ajay used to work as a salesman in East Delhi, but quit his job and was staying with the Jhas prior to the incident. Vijay, who was acquainted with Ravinder, was also staying in the same house at that time.

After his arrest, Ajay reportedly told the police that he used to be beaten up and insulted by Ravinder when he was staying with the Jhas.

He then hatched a plan with Vijay and decided to take revenge by killing Niru. Vijay ensured that Ravinder was away when the murder was planned so that Ajay could kill Niru and escape before the incident was reported.

The police initially believed that a property dispute was the motive behind the murder. Niru had inherited the GK-II house after the parents died last year. She married Ravinder sometime later, but the couple soon had to contend with several threats from local real estate dealers.

In January this year, in a widely reported case, Ravinder was forcibly taken away by four UP policemen for his alleged involvement in a scooter theft case in Muzzafarnagar.

Initially, the C.R. Park police had registered a case of kidnapping after Niru insisted that her husband was taken away at the instance of some real estate dealers. The Delhi police later found that Ravinder had been `arrested' by their UP counterparts. Ravinder was released on bail in March.While his involvement in the scooter theft case is yet to be established, Ravinder had told Express Newsline after his release that he was threatened even when he was in the custody of the UP police. He was reportedly told that if his wife did not sell her house, ``more serious things would follow''.

The south Delhi police have registered a case of murder against Ajay and Vijay and are conducting further investigations.