Kritika Choudhary Death: Mumbai Police Registers a Case of Murder

The model-actor died of a head injury from a steel fighter, the police said.

The partially decomposed body of a 25-year-old small-time actress, Kritika Choudhary, was recovered from her Andheri apartment on Monday afternoon after building residents complained of a foul smell emanating from Choudhary’s apartment. The Amboli police, on Tuesday night, registered a case of murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code in relation to the death of small-time actor Kritika Choudhary.

The police had initially registered an accidental death report after Choudhary's body was recovered on Monday evening, and have revised the complaint following results of her post mortem.

Choudhary had suffered an injury to her head. A fighter of steel was used to commit the crime. Primarily, an ADR was registered, and the body was sent to Cooper hospital for an autopsy. Today, we have received her probable cause of death. After the ADR inquiry and the probable cause of death certificate, an offence has been registered against unknown persons. Further investigation is in progress.

DCP Dr Rashmi Karandikar, spokesperson of the Mumbai police, as told The Quint

Earlier, Divisional assistant commissioner of police, Arun Chavan, speaking to The Quint, had said that the circumstances point towards murder.

Her body was sent for a post-mortem after it was recovered last evening. Once the medical reports arrive, we shall know the exact cause of her death. Accordingly, appropriate legal action will be initiated. However, it can be said that the circumstances around her death are strange, and it appears to be a case of murder.

Choudhary, who was a native of Haridwar, came to Mumbai a few years ago to make a career in the film industry. She featured in the Kangana Ranaut-starrer, Rajjo, and had also appeared on a few television shows, including a Balaji creation, and another crime show. However, Choudhary’s career had failed to take the flight she had expected it to. She was living alone in a one-bedroom apartment in Bhairavnath Society at Four Bungalows in Andheri (West), and hardly interacted with her neighbours.

At around 3.45 pm on Monday, the Mumbai police’s control room received a call from residents of the building complaining about the stench from her apartment. When the police reached the apartment, they found it locked from outside. After they broke the door open, the partially decomposed body of the actor was discovered on the floor.

“The air conditioner in the apartment was on. Perhaps, the unidentified killer/s wanted to delay the discovery of her corpse since the air conditioner would suppress the smell. It was a successful attempt since the actor’s body was partially decomposed when it was found, indicating that she was dead for at least two to three days,” said an official privy to the investigations.

Sources claimed that Choudhary had a few injuries on her limbs, and had been hit on the right side of the head with a blunt object. However, senior officials refused to confirm the details saying that investigations were in progress.

After the body was recovered on Monday, the Amboli police immediately informed Choudhary’s Haridwar-based family, and her brother is reportedly on his way to the city to collect her remains. Even as they await the post mortem report, investigators are establishing contact with the actor’s friends and acquaintances in the city to ascertain the sequence of events leading to her death. Various angles are being probed to decipher the motive behind the crime.

“Seemingly, it is a case of murder, but any confirmation will be available once her autopsy reports arrive later in the day,” Paramjit Dahiya, the zonal deputy commissioner of police told The Quint.

According to her social media profile, Choudhary studied at the Chitrakut Karwa College in Uttar Pradesh. She often wrote posts about being alone, and enjoying her life alone. “Always I am alone, but yesterday I really was happy,” she wrote in January this year after watching the Aamir Khan-production, Dangal. In another post dated August, 2016, she complained, “I enjoy always only with myself, but people (are) not happy with me....Every one (is) irritated with me.”

Investigators have recovered Choudhary's phone from the apartment, but are having difficulty accessing it owing to a password lock, unique to the deceased. The cops are investigating if the actor was in a relationship, and if the crime was motivated by a related tiff.

Officials said that Choudhary, when discovered, was in her night clothes, and the possibility of a sexual assault has not been ruled out. However, any confirmation will be available once her autopsy reports arrive.

Investigators said that the model's post mortem was taking longer than usual since her body is considerably decomposed, and since they are also conducting a videography of the procedure.

According to sources, the actor was seen last around her birthday a week ago, on 5 June. Her phone is said to be switched off since 6 June, and even her last social media post was on 6 June. "It's surprising how no one tried to contact her in all these days."

(Puja Changoiwala is a journalist, and author of the critically-acclaimed true crime book, ‘The Front Page Murders.’)