NEW DELHI: The chilling calm displayed by the 23-year-old man accused of raping and murdering IRS officer’s 22-year-old daughter has become a key focus of the investigation.Investigators said the former domestic help showed no remorse during interrogation and maintained a composed demeanour throughout, a pattern that, they believe, could hold crucial clues to the nature of the crime.This unusual calm, police said, was evident even in the immediate aftermath of the alleged offence. Barely two hours after the crime, the accused checked into a hotel in Dwarka and behaved “completely normally”, according to staff.Read more: Delhi IRS officer daughter’s rape-murder: Infamous for aggression, accused had violent past; father an alcoholicA hotel employee said the man arrived around 9am and casually told the receptionist he was tired after travelling from Rajasthan and needed a room. He furnished his Aadhaar details, paid around Rs 1,000, and completed the check-in process without raising any suspicion.“He appeared completely normal. No one could have imagined he had just committed such a heinous crime,” the staffer said, adding that his conduct throughout the stay remained routine and uneventful.Police said the accused had initially planned to travel to Haryana’s Rewari but missed his train, after which he took an autorickshaw to the hotel. He reportedly told the receptionist that his uncle would visit later to decide the duration of his stay.His attempt to blend into normalcy ended when police tracked his mobile location to the hotel and arrested him later in the day. Investigators said he was earlier traced to Palam railway station, where he had tried, and failed, to board a train to escape.The probe has since gathered critical evidence. The victim’s mobile phone, allegedly taken by the accused after the crime, was recovered from a garbage bin in Garhi village. Blood-soaked clothes believed to belong to him were found at the crime scene.Sources said the accused also fled with cash and valuables, made misleading calls to avoid detection, and disposed of phones in an attempt to erase digital footprints.Delhi Police is likely to conduct a psychological evaluation to decode his mental state, behavioural patterns and possible motive.
