Man held for flight attendant’s murder found hanging in Mumbai police’s custody

After a post-mortem, the body will be handed over to his family members, he said.Since Athwal died in custody, the crime branch of Mumbai police will investigate the death, the official said.Police suspect Athwal, who was married and had two daughters, killed himself out of guilt.

A 40-year-old man, who was arrested for allegedly killing flight attendant Rupal Ogrey, was found hanging in the Mumbai police’s custody in the early hours of Friday, an official said. It is a suspected case of suicide, he said.

The accused, Vikram Athwal, was found hanging using a pair of pants as a noose inside the toilet of Andheri police station, he said. Athwal took his life perhaps out of guilt, the police official said. However, the crime branch will probe into the death as he died in police custody, he said.

Ogrey, 24, was found dead with her throat slit late Sunday night in a rented flat in Marol area of suburban Andheri. She hailed from Chhattisgarh and came to Mumbai in April this year for training with a leading private airline.

Athwal, who was doing housekeeping work over the last year in the residential society where the victim lived, was arrested on Monday on the charge of killing her. A local court had remanded him in police custody till September 8.

During the probe, the police recovered a knife allegedly used by him to kill Ogrey along with the clothes he was wearing at the time of the crime.

Athwal and Ogrey used to argue over petty issues, the police said, adding that as per their preliminary investigation, Athwal entered Ogrey’s flat under the pretext of picking up a garbage bag and cleaning the commode and then killed her. On Friday morning, Athwal had told the police personnel posted at the lockup that he was going to the washroom, the official said.

As he did not return after some time, cops entered the toilet only to find him hanging with his pair of trousers, the official said.

Senior police officials were alerted about the incident following which doctors were called to the police station, he said. Athwal was declared dead before being taken to the hospital. His relatives have been informed about the incident. After a post-mortem, the body will be handed over to his family members, he said.

Since Athwal died in custody, the crime branch of Mumbai police will investigate the death, the official said.

Police suspect Athwal, who was married and had two daughters, killed himself out of guilt.