Murdered Delhi Man's Family Got His 'I'm Fine' Text. Killer Couple Sent It

"I'm fine, don't worry...my phone might get switched off" - Yuvraj Singh Manchanda's family received this message from him on WhatsApp three days before his body was found in a drain by the Gurugram police. Little did they know, Yuvraj had already died by then, and the messages were sent by his killers - his former colleague, Anya Vats, and her husband, Sanyam Sachdeva.

Yuvraj, who was set to marry in a month, had gone for an "urgent meeting" with Anya on September 6 in Gurugram - shortly after he and his sisters had finalised his 'sherwani' (a long, button-down outer coat suit) for the wedding. He informed his sisters, fiancee, and boss about the meeting too.

"He had gone to Lajpat with us for wedding shopping. His wedding was to happen in a month. After finalising his sherwani, he left, saying he had a meeting with a former woman colleague," one of his sisters said.

Around 7:30 pm, he told his family that his former colleague would be arriving in 20 minutes and that he would call them after the meeting, his sister said.

However, he did not call, nor was his phone reachable. "After that, we only received messages," she said.

On September 8, Yuvraj's family received messages from him informing them that he was "fine". He also told them he would return on Saturday, and then changed it to Thursday. This grew his family's suspicion, with his sister requesting him to show his face on a video call. 

"Our sister asked why he was not calling or coming home. He never does this. We started panicking because he never does anything wrong," one of the sisters said.

When they did not get any response, they filed a missing person report at the Lajpat Nagar police station on September 11.

How the Gurugram couple killed Yuvraj

According to the police, the accused couple made Yuvraj park his car at one location. They then took him to their car and asked him to sit in the passenger seat. While Anya was seated behind him, her husband was driving the SUV.

Shortly after, Anya pulled out a gun and shot Yuvraj in the neck.

The killer couple roamed around with the body for a while before dumping it in a drain.

Cops suspect a financial dispute as the motive behind the crime. Yuvraj and the couple had previously worked together at a real estate company. Anya was fired from the company for financial irregularities. She was currently freelancing and assisting Yuvraj in some real estate deals.

According to the police, the accused's financial details revealed that despite not having enough money, they were maintaining a lavish lifestyle. The couple has a one-year-old child.

Yuvraj was the sole breadwinner of his family. While his father is paralysed, his mother suffers from a heart disease.

Body cremated by cops

Yuvraj's family alleged that the Gurugram police found the body on September 10 but did not inform them, nor was the information for identification uploaded on the Zonal Integrated Police Network (ZIPNET - a government portal to check unidentified bodies) in time. The cops ended up cremating the body on September 14 - two days before the victim's family was informed about his death.

According to law, if a dead body cannot be identified despite mandatory publication in missing persons networks after a designated waiting period, the officials can cremate the body.

The victim's family has demanded that the post-mortem report, inquiry papers, photographs, DNA samples, and Yuvraj's belongings be preserved and made available to the family. "They said the body was decomposed and hence they kept it for three days and cremated it on September 14. I requested them to give me something of his that I could take to my mother. They gave us nothing. He was wearing a ring and a watch also, but we got nothing," Yuvraj's sister said.

The accused couple has been arrested and sent to five days of police custody.