An old and rusted lock hangs on popular AIR announcer Sudha Gupta's home opposite Talkotra stadium, where her body was found on November 17. She had been strangled and clubbed to death. Four months and a number of blind leads later, the police are still stumped.

The case was transferred to the crime branch last fortnight. The Mandir Marg police are also carrying out independent investigations.

Sudha Gupta, in her late forties, was widely known to AIR listeners for the popular hindi-film based programmes Aap ki Chitthi and Aap ki Farmaish. The senior announcer has been living alone ever since a divorce barely five months after her marriage more than 20 years ago. Gupta's body was discovered by area watchman Mangal who also doubled up as her car-washer. On the morning of November 17, Mangal had gone to her house to fetch water to clean her Maruti-800. When no one responded, he pushed the door slightly to find it open. He went inside and discovered the body on the floor of the bedroom. Mangal alerted the neighbours who informed the police. She had been hit on the head with a blunt object and then strangled. The bedroom looked partly ransacked, while the rest of the house had been untouched.

Bundles of cash carelessly strewn around the bedroom suggested that the motive was something other than robbery. And, moreover, there were no signs of forced entry. Three untouched glasses of water kept on a tray were found on a table in the sitting room. It was apparent that she had guests on the night of the murder.

The Station House Officer of Mandir Marg Police Station Niranjan Singh was in-charge of the investigation. Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) T.N. Mohan said: ``We had put in a lot of effort to identify the guests who had visited her on the night of the murder. She was a very social person. We have not been able to pin down the three visitors yet.''

The neighbours, however, say the police seemed to lose interest a week after the murder. The AIR announcer's neighbour Omvati Singh told Express Newsline: ``The police came here regularly in the week of the murder. No investigating officials came here thereafter. It is only since the past 10 days, after the crime branch took over the case, that a couple of police officers visited her home and questioned us.''

According to the police, Sudha Gupta had returned from her All India Radio headquarters on Parliament Street around 8 pm. She was scheduled to report back at office around 9.45 pm. Her AIR colleagues called her up at 10 pm, but they found the telephone busy. In the morning, the police found that the receiver had been taken off the hook.

The victim had been living alone in the house for 15 years. Says a neighbour: ``Sudha did not mingle much. In fact, we thought she was married until the day of the murder. On the night of the murder, my nine-year-old daughter had gone to her house to return some plates. Sudha had some guests at her place that night.'' The neighbours have been questioned time and again, but to no avail. Gupta's brothers live in Greater Kailash. They are the only ones who open the lock to her Park Street house occasionally to clean the house. The victim's sister-in-law Rashmi Gupta said: ``We are not satisfied with the investigation carried out by the police. Months have passed after the murder and the police have not been able to find any clues yet.'' DCP (Crime) Karnal Singh remained tight-lipped about the case.

What the cops say?