Wife locked in bedroom and a missing caretaker: Ex-IAS officer’s murder gets murkier

Nishi Agrawal found her husband Rakesh murdered in their home, with the caretaker Varun now a prime suspect

BHOPAL: In what could be a crucial piece of information amid the probe into the gruesome killing of retired IAS officer Rakesh Agrawal, his widow, Nishi, told police that she tried opening her bedroom door around 4.40 am on Wednesday, but found it locked from outside.The statement deepened the mystery around the killing after Amar, a cook employed by the family, told the cops that he spotted Varun, the 24x7 caretaker and now the absconding prime suspect, loitering outside the house around 1 am, adding that on being enquired, the latter said he came to check after hearing the sound of a door being opened.Amar said he retired to his room thereafter, while Varun proceeded towards Agrawal’s room.Nishi told the sleuths that on finding her bedroom door locked from outside, she informed Neetu, Amar’s wife who lives with him at the adjacent servants’ quarters. Neetu then informed her husband, who had a duplicate key to the house, the police said.Amar rushed in to find the main door, too, locked from outside, the sleuths said, adding that he opened it before unlocking the bedroom door.

As they stepped out of the bedroom, they caught a strong whiff of leaking gas throughout the house.

Proceeding to the kitchen to check, they found all LPG cylinder pipes disconnected. Amar quickly removed the cylinders to prevent a fire.They then went to Agrawal’s room, finding him in bed, the police said, adding as Nishi tried to nudge him awake, her hand was smeared with blood. She screamed aloud in horror, while Amar reached over to check for pulse. He didn’t find any.They then looked around for the caretaker but he had disappeared.ACP Ankita Khatarkar said the retired IAS officer had been discharged from hospital about 20 days ago, after recovering from a slipped disc-related condition.The sleuths, who swept the scene, said the LPG connecting pipes could well have been deliberately dislodged in a bid to set off a fire. In a crucial lead, police said the suspect was captured on a CCTV camera in Suraj Nagar around 2.15 am, appearing to be making an escape.The murder, according to the police, was likely committed sometime between 12.30 am and 2 am on Wednesday.The body, meanwhile, was sent for post-mortem and kept in a freezer at the mortuary after the procedure. Benumbed with shock after finding her husband murdered, Nishi experienced a sudden spike in blood pressure and was taken to a hospital.Ratibad police questioned the operator of the agency in Bag Sewania through which caretaker Varun was hired.According to the agency operator, Varun contacted him in Aug 2026 on a number he found online and later travelled to Bhopal from Patiala, Punjab. He told the operator that the phone number he was using belonged to his sister, police said, adding that he also submitted copies of his Aadhaar card, PAN card and police verification documents, added cops.