Bhopal : The day after retired IAS officer Rakesh Agrawal was found dead in his bed at his sprawling residence in Bhopal’s Ratibad , the prime suspect caretaker, Varun Kumar , continued to remain missing. About 50 personnel from Ratibad police , Crime Branch and Zone-I teams were conducting searches across four states for Varun, who disappeared in the immediate aftermath of the crime on Wednesday.




However, in a breakthrough of sorts, Agra wal’s mobile phone, which was found stolen along with some cash and jewellery in the crime’s aftermath, was found active in Agra, prompting Bhopal police to question the person using it. The person told the sleuths he found it lying around at a particular spot.




Police suspect that the accused caretaker, while making an escape, sold the phone at a throwaway price to someone in Agra, after which it changed hands and reached the current user.




Investigators said they were tracing the chain of possession to determine how the phone reached Agra and identify the people who handled it after the murder.




Meanwhile, the police gave an account of the stolen items from the scene, saying that a gold chain, rings and four expensive watches were found missing.




Search teams swept multiple locations in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, raiding possible hideouts in Gwalior, Agra and even parts of Punjab but found no trace of Varun.




Ratibad police, meanwhile, registered a case of murder and robbery against the absconding caretaker, even as the sleuths said he has no previous criminal record.




Police were also probing other possible angles, besides robbery, as motives, examining Agrawal’s financial transactions with several people to determine whether any of them could be linked to the murder.




Meanwhile, TOI learned that Agrawal’s funeral could take place on Friday after his son arrives from the US.



‘Bid to erase evidence’




Police, after sweeping the crime scene for evidence, believe that the suspect may have deliberately tried to erase evidence by dislodging LPG connecting pipes and leaving an electric iron switched on. The sleuths believe that idea was to cause a major explosion and fire after killing the former bureaucrat.



Varun lost mom, his dad remarried




A police team, meanwhile, reached Gwalior, where Varun’s father lives. The sleuths learned that Varun’s father married a second time after his mother passed away. His father claimed to have lost touch with Varun, while his sister, who lives in Punjab, also recorded her statement with the police.



Wife details caretaker appt




The slain retired officer’s widow, Nishi, gave her statement to the police on Thursday, saying the family needed a 24x7 caregiver after he returned from a fortnight’s stay at a hospital, as his son had to fly back to the U.S for research work.




The family initially hired a caretaker named Vinod through a healthcare agency, but he left the job saying he had to return to his village to fetch some documents. He subsequently got married. The agency then sent Varun to the couple’s home on Sept 26. He slept in the hall outside Rakesh Agrawal’s room.