Murder Famous Eunuch (Kinnar) Sonia De - 24 Nov 2011

Sonia De

24th Nov 2011 - It's now four days since city's famed eunuch, Sonia De, was shot dead in full public view on a busy street near Nehru Bridge in Karanj. The Karanj police and officials of the crime branch are believed to have interrogated more than 50 eunuchs but are yet to make a major breakthrough in the case. However, the investigators have a suspicion that Sonia's assailant was a contract killer.

All that the police know so far about the man who shot Sonia is that he was wearing a black shirt and that there was a physical struggle between the shooter and his victim. Sonia was shot while paying the vendor from whom she had purchased pani-puri. The vendor was busy with customers and was unable to take the money immediately. In the meantime, Sonia began talking on her mobile phone. It was Thursday and the time was around 8:30 pm when the roads and streets in the area are full of people and traffic.

It was then that a man in his thirties and wearing a black shirt shot Sonia from close range. According to investigators, the distance between the shooter and Sonia was quite close. The vendor said that when the shooting occurred, Sonia immediately caught the attacker and there was a bit of struggle between them. But the assailant kept firing bullets, one of which pierced Sonia's chest.
"She cried in pain and ran towards the other side of the road asking for help. Then there was a huge commotion on the road. This is all that we know so far," said a police officer who is among the investigators of the case.

Karanj police inspector KS Savani said the man who shot Sonia seems to be a sharpshooter but he couldn't shoot her from a distance because there were too many people around her at the time. He said that the murder must have been planned earlier and the assailant appears to have been a contract killer.

The investigators of the case, including Savani and deputy commissioner of police, zone-2, HG Patel, claim that prima facie it seems that Sonia was killed because of some property dispute. However, finding the killer is like looking for a needle in a haystack because there are dozens of people (mostly eunuchs) who were at loggerheads with Sonia over property and because of internal rivalry, a source in the police said.