Neeraj Grover murder case

Neeraj Grover was a television executive working for Synergy Adlabs, a Mumbai based production house.

He was found dead in May 2008, a crime for which actress Maria Susairaj and her Boyfriend Lieutenant Emile Jerome Mathew were arrested.

Mathew was eventually found guilty of culpable Homicide not amounting to murder and for destroying evidence.

Susairaj was acquitted of the killing itself, but found guilty of destroying evidence.

The killing and subsequent trial received significant press coverage in India.

Maria Susairaj was a new and small-time South Indian film actress and Lieutenant Emil Jerome Mathew was her Boyfriend.

Both were said to be getting engaged two months later.

Neeraj Grover was helping Susairaj to establish a foothold in the television industry and had also arranged few auditions for her.

Susairaj had once told Mathew that Grover had a crush on her but she did not reciprocate.

She had reportedly also stayed at Grover's apartment for a few days.

At the time of the incident, Susairaj was moving into her new rented apartment and Grover was helping her with the move.

On 6 May 2008, Grover reportedly went to meet Susairaj and was never found again.

When his friends and family could not trace him for over 24 hours, his family filed a missing person's report.

Grover's family told police that they suspected the involvement of his female friend in his disappearance.

Susairaj, when questioned by police claimed that though Grover had met her on Tuesday night, he left at 12 A.M. to meet some friends for a party in Andheri.

As per various media reports, and as stated by the police, Susairaj continued fabricating stories for 10 days, until she eventually told the police that Mathew had killed Grover in her presence.

Grover visited Susairaj's Malad apartment Dhiraj Solitaire at 22:00 on 6 May to help her settle in.

At the same time, Mathew called her up and got upset to hear a male voice in background.

When Susairaj told Mathew that Grover had come over to help her, Jerome asked Maria not to allow Neeraj to stay overnight.

Mathew at that time was living in Kochi.

However, he took a flight and came to Mumbai the next day without telling Susairaj.

He reached her apartment at 07:30.

Susairaj opened the door and Mathew went straight into the bedroom to find Grover in the room.

As per media and police reports, the two men had argument and then engaged in a physical fight.

Mathew grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Grover, who died on the spot.

On 25 May, the crime branch recovered a nine-inch knife from Susairaj's apartment complex.

Police believed that the knife was used to kill Grover.

Around 11:00 am the same day, Susairaj went to a nearby mall and purchased bags, air freshener, curtains, bed sheets & knife.

She later told police that she did this on Jerome's instructions.

They both then took the dead body to the kitchen and chopped it into several pieces, stuffing them into the bags Susairaj had earlier bought.

While many media outlets reported that Grover's body had been chopped into 300 pieces, the judge in the case would later state that this was "...far from the facts on record", and that such a description had caused "confusion" and had "outraged the general public".

Susairaj borrowed a car from her friend and dumped the bags in the vehicle's boot whilst the building security guard watched them load the car.

At 16:30 the same day, they drove towards Manor after buying two bottles of Petrol at Bhayander.

They soaked the bags in petrol and set it on fire in a jungle near Amgaon village in Manor.

After burning the dead body, they returned to Mumbai the same night at 21:30.

Some circumstances leading police to arrest Mathew and Susairaj included the following:

Maria Susairaj, along with Jerome Mathew, on her way to Manor in a friend's borrowed car (to dispose of Grover's body) accidentally answered a call on Grover's mobile while she was pulling it out of her denim pocket to see who the caller was.

She had kept Grover's mobile with her after the murder.

Although she immediately disconnected the call, police were able to trace the location at which the call was answered.

This turned out to be a key lead for police as Susairaj, during questioning before her arrest, had told the police that she was shopping in Dadar when she was actually on her way to Manor.