After dilly-dallying for a while, model Simrin Sood on Wednesday confessed to being married to murder accused Vijaya Palande.
The duo had posed as brother and sister for entering into lease agreements. Sood was also rumoured to be Palande’s neice; however, on Wednesday she told her interrogators that they had been married for 12 years.
“Palande worked as a delivery boy for Copper Chimney Restaurant in Juhu in 1998 and would often visit a gymnasium in the area, where Sood used to work. The two fell in love and later got married,” said a senior crime branch officer.
The officer said that while Palande misled the police about his relationship with Sood and claimed that they were siblings, it was Sood who broke the ice on Wednesday.
Interestingly, Palande also married a German national Levis Braganza later. “Braganza had gotten in touch with Palande through a common acquaintance. She had plans to start a business in Germany. When Palande learnt of Braganza’s business plans, he started wooing her and ultimately convinced her to marry him. He and Sood could have planned to dupe Braganza, by posing as people interested in helping her start her business. However, later Braganza went back to Germany and is currently residing there,” said the officer.
The officer said that Sood knew about Palande’s second marriage as she had signed as a witness for the two, to get Arun Tikku’s flat on lease.
“We will now bring both Palande and Sood face to face to corroborate Sood’s claim about their marriage and also check whether they had registered their marriage. We also believe that Palande killed Karan Kakkar as he was trying to get close to Sood and that had enraged Palande,” the officer said.